Civilian drone operators helped the Ukrainian Armed Forces defeat a Russian tank regiment – media (video)

During the offensive of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Kiev region in February 2022, civilian UAV operators helped the Ukrainian Defense Forces defeat the 6th Tank Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces in Brovary. Analysts Michael Kofman and Rob Lee talked about this on the War On The Rocks podcast.

The podcast discusses the Battle of Brovary, where the Russian 6th Regiment of the elite 90th Guards Tank Division was attacked by the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade and repelled with heavy losses. The Ukrainian army was aided by amateur civilian operators who provided information on the invaders’ locations and helped fix attacks using their drones.

According to Michael Kofman, at first the use of UAVs was temporary, with soldiers communicating with drone operators via WhatsApp. But soon the Internet was flooded with videos showing the destruction of Russian tank columns, shot by civilians using drones. Rob Lee believes there were around 80 people in Kiev who began using their drones to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the beginning of a full-scale war. Their initiative in particular helped the army inflict heavy losses on the 6th Tank Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces.

“In this case, I think it was a civilian who had a UAV, actively scanned the area and located the Russian 6th Tank Regiment in Brovary. I think he was the first to locate it and relayed the information via WhatsApp. The artillery of the 72nd Brigade “We contacted the commander and that’s how this collision happened.” said Rob Lee.

Michael Kofman also touched upon the role of Turkish-made TB2 Bayraktar UAVs, used successfully in the early days of the invasion, in destroying most of the Russian equipment. But the Russians later adapted and learned to shoot down these drones. They have since virtually disappeared from the battlefield in Ukraine.

Let us remind you that, according to the data of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Colonel Andrei Zakharov of the Russian Armed Forces was eliminated in the conflict in the Brovary district of the Kiev region.

Yuri Kasyanov, a veteran of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, also reported that during the attack of the Russian Armed Forces in the Kiev region, 15-year-old young Andrei Pokrasa used his unmanned aerial vehicle to target Ukrainian artillery at Russian troops. As it later became known, this was one of the largest columns moving along the Zhitomir highway.