Dimko Zhlyuktenko: When we are on a mission, our team operates from an underground bunker or hides in the open. There must be trees there to protect us. There we launch our reconnaissance drone, which transmits live images.
Valuable targets up to 50 km behind the front line: Russian air defense systems, artillery systems, logistic bases, command posts. We're trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, it's like detective work. Since the Russians also use many dummies, we are not always sure whether what we see is real.
What happens when you discover your purpose?
In addition to us, officers sitting in a safe place, in the Dnieper or even in Kiev, can also watch the live broadcast. Together we decide whether the target should be destroyed – with artillery or HIMARS [lekki, wysoce mobilny kołowy wariant rodziny wieloprowadnicowych wyrzutni rakietowych].
On the Internet you can come across brutal videos showing how Russian soldiers are killed using FPV drones. Do you also control such people?
No, others do it. In my unit, young people do this and they are quite happy with their work and have fun. But I already managed to cause artillery fire to hit directly into the hole where 10 Russian idiots were hiding.
How do you assess the capabilities of the Russian army?
Here, in the Donetsk region, we have our best people. They also have their best people here. The first thing I learned is that you should not underestimate your enemy. Sometimes he acts clever. In addition to professionals, the Russians have their own disposable soldiers, who constitute their main combat force. That's why they storm almost constantly.
They send maybe 50 people, and already five kilometers from the front line 80 percent. of them die. So they now started sending out small groups of maybe three people. Such soldiers have almost no supplies and only a small amount of ammunition.
Their commanders do not expect them to survive, but they hope to kill as many Ukrainian defenders as possible.
However, most of them do not get far enough to use weapons. This is all quite cruel and inhumane. Very difficult from a moral point of view. These soldiers are being sent to a senseless, useless death.
Russians don't lack people?
There are no signs that the attacks are subsiding. The Russians are ready to sacrifice an unlimited number of people. The number of people who lose every day is absolute madness. However, it is not decreasing, on the contrary – it is increasing.
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At the same time, we are getting better at eliminating them from afar as we focus more on drones. This way we don't lose our people.
You headed an aid organization for soldiers. Why did you decide to become a soldier yourself?
Due to my charitable activities, I would be exempt from military service. However, I came to the conclusion that I could do more for my country in the army. My wife now runs the aid organization. He's a better manager, he's more successful there than I am. As in most countries, negative selection also takes place in Ukraine: intelligent and well-educated people did not join the army.
The army needs people like me. I can give up comforts and I am comfortable with the complex technology we use to destroy the enemy.
“This thought gives me a lot of hope and energy”
Many Ukrainians fled abroad to avoid conscription.
Yes, it upsets me a lot, it makes me sad. My friends also left illegally and now live in the USA, for example. I don't talk to them at the moment. This is about the survival of our nation. They do not fulfill their obligations.
How do you personally deal with the risk of death?
I just accepted it. It's important to do what's right as long as I live. This thought gives me a lot of hope and energy. The fear of death is only in the background, it does not matter much. The Russians want to kill us anyway, regardless of whether we are soldiers or civilians.
When will peace come?
Russians don't want peace. Unfortunately, it is not the case that all this is happening just because Putin is crazy. Is not. No, Putin simply represents the will of his people. Russians massively support this invasion.
Russian soldiers (illustrative photo)Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Getty Images
There are almost no protests. Crowds of them volunteer for the army and work in missile factories. They consider themselves the chosen ones, the strongest. They want Russia to be an imperialist power.
If the Russians said: we did bad things, we will never do them again, we are sorry – then we Ukrainians could forgive them, after a few generations. But there are no Russians anywhere claiming that what they are doing is wrong. Even in the large Russian diaspora, there are no voices that clearly oppose the war.
So what's next?
There is a bloody stalemate. Of course I would like it to end. I am far from supporting the killing of, say, another hundred thousand. Russian soldiers. Because the bottom line is, I have better things to do with my life and better things to do with my time. I never wanted to do this. But they don't stop, so we must continue to do everything we can to stop them.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
