in the Donbass, immersed in the heart of a pioneer regiment in drone combat

Somewhere in Donbass lies a vast complex of underground halls housing the “Birds of Madyar”, a unique Ukrainian regiment. A few thousand women and men responsible for clearing the sky of Russian drones and relentlessly destroying, using drones, the invader’s men and equipment. Located in a secret location, this place serves as the headquarters of Robert Brovdi, known as “Madyar” (Magyar, “the Hungarian”, in Ukrainian), commander of the 414^e detached unmanned combat systems regiment.

Dressed in black from head to toe, Robert Brovdi, 49, does not share the execrable mood of many Ukrainian soldiers worn out by nearly three years of war. If things are going badly on the front, it is due “to the helplessness of our Western partners, who helped us initially, but did not accelerate their arms production and are now beginning to fear that Putin will press the red button”. Determined to continue the fight, “Madyar” works hard to perfect the new art of drone warfare.

He shows the regimental headquarters to Monde. One room is dedicated to hunting enemy drones. These are divided into two main categories: reconnaissance drones (DR) and combat drones (DC). The first became, in the summer of 2024, one of the main threats because their cameras transmit, in real time, to Russian artillery the precise coordinates of the Ukrainian military device up to several tens of kilometers behind the forehead.

In the room, a man and two women sit in front of very large screens and frequently make phone calls. “Madyar” broadcasts on a screen several videos of the in-flight destruction of these DRs by “ram drones”, responsible for hitting their targets until they fall. “We use quadcopters up to 2,000 meters and fixed-wing drones up to 4,000 meters”explains “Madyar”, very proud that his team has developed ram drones, often reusable and costing a few thousand euros, to bring down DRs whose price is included between 200,000 and 300,000 euros each.

“Our dome system is unique”

Combat drones are divided into two subcategories: bombers and FPVs (first person view ; immersion piloting, in French). These very inexpensive quadcopters have been swarming the battlefield since 2023 and cause half of the human and material losses. The engineers of the 414^e regiment have developed an electromagnetic intelligence system (ROEM) called “Koulibine”, which makes it possible to intercept in real time the video signal from enemy drones (which is used to guide the drone). The image seen by the Russian pilot is displayed on the screen, which allows the “birds of Madyar” to locate him precisely. This is where the 414 jammer network comes into play.^e. By cutting the frequency used to pilot it, it causes the quadcopter to fall without it being able to reach its target.

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