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A drone commander said his elite pilots have been hitting Russian infantry at close range lately.
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On average, they are attacking troops 0.89 miles from the line of contact, said Robert “Madyar” Brovdy.
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His 12 elite drone crews have increasingly been deployed to hit infantry over the past month, he added.
The head of Ukraine’s special drone branch said his operators are advancing Russian infantry at extremely close range, providing a rare insight into how some of the country’s best pilots are fighting.
Maj. Robert “Madyar” Brovdy, commander of the Unmanned Systems Force, wrote in a statement Sunday that his pilots have been engaging enemy forces for the past month at an average strike depth of 1.44 kilometers, or 0.89 miles, from the line of contact.
That’s about a 15-minute brisk walk for the average person.
“This figure fluctuates, but: we are literally working under our feet,” Madyar wrote.
His comments reflect that top Ukrainian commanders are prioritizing their limited resources in some areas. The use of elite strike teams for short-range suppression may also signal increased pressure on Ukrainian lines.
The Unmanned Systems Forces are a relatively new elite formation in Ukraine that focuses on providing strike or reconnaissance support with small drones. Prominent drone unit commander Madyar, appointed to lead the group in June 2025, said on Sunday that his wing has 12 combat teams present in 30% of the front line.
Unmanned Systems Force Commander Robert “Madyar” Brody attends an event in December 2025.Getty Images via Viktor Fridshon/Global Images Ukraine
Russia has relied on ground infantry offensives to gradually seize territory in Ukraine, and has been aggressively trying to advance in some key frontline areas in recent months.
Madyar wrote that his units were assigned to corps commanders, who assigned operators to attack such forward forces at close range.
“A corps commander, who has his own brigade and several hundred crews of subordinate units within his area of responsibility, is not prepared to issue SBS work at the appropriate depth,” Madyar wrote, referring to the unmanned systems force as SBS.
He added that this was due to Ukrainian commanders wanting to protect their troops in the trenches.
For Ukrainian soldiers, being sent to hold trenches is one of the highest casualty operations of the war. They are often outnumbered by waves attacking Russian forces, and usually require the help of friendly drone pilots to thwart the attacks before they get close.
But ideally, these drone operators try to locate and engage enemy infantry about 6 to 10 miles from the line of contact, as these troops form or begin to launch attacks.
“To reach a reasonable depth in the organization, it is necessary to manage to create at least three times more new teams than the current number,” Madyar wrote. “The incumbents, for the most part, will remain at strategic depth.”
Drone pilots strike more infantry in December
Madyar also said that recent infantry strikes accounted for a large portion of his unit’s downtime.
According to him, the SBS has a general goal of targeting infantry in 30% of its strikes, but nearly 40% of successful attacks in December were against infantry, which numbered about 12,000 Russian soldiers.
Still, the commander wrote that throughout the history of the SBS, most of its engagements have been against Russian equipment and logistics routes, ranging from about 2.3 miles to 9.2 miles, depending on the type of system targeted.
Madyar’s branch has hit more than 1,200 “launch points” for Russian drone pilots at an average depth of 2.25 miles, he added.
Elite drone units often make a name for themselves by using small, inexpensive drones to strike priority air defense systems, logistics routes, or command posts behind enemy lines.
In fact, Madyar posted a statement on Sunday in which he said his units were focusing too much on attacks against Russian soldiers.
Madyar also wrote that not all SBS crews are contributing equally to these strike figures.
“Out of 12 SBS units, only six-seven are working at the required speed, others are working and need more time,” his statement said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
