The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
At 25, he left the monitor behind and joined the ranks — first training on a simulator, then soldering drones in the field; today, “Tral” trains newcomers, and behind him are stopped tanks and destroyed armored fighting vehicles.
His combat story was published on the page of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade.
As soon as he turned 25, “Tral” — then a civilian IT specialist — voluntarily joined the Armed Forces. During basic training, he was noticed by a future commander, who offered him service in the unmanned aerial systems unit.
“At first, they let me fly an FPV simulator. I thought it was completely impossible for me. So I was sent to specialized training as a ‘Mavic’ operator,” — he recalls. — “For two months, I flew the ‘Mavic,’ conducting reconnaissance and adjusting fire.”
“Tral’s” first mission took place in the Dylivka area near Kramatorsk.
“We drove at night to the position: we reached a checkpoint, the driver turned off the headlights, turned on the night vision — and continued along the dirt roads. Explosions were visible on the horizon. I felt like I was in a game: ‘Battlefield’ or ‘Call of Duty.’ We reached the position, quickly jumped out. I entered the shelter — and then it hit me that I was at war,” — he recounts.
The initial flights were quiet: “My first combat experience was quite boring. In the first two or three days, I didn’t see the enemy — only tracks in the snow.” There were also funny incidents: “Once I thought I saw a new enemy shelter on the thermal imager. I reported it — and it turned out to be a cow in the field. All my colleagues laughed at me then.”
Later, “Tral” volunteered to become a strike relay drone pilot, and after a successful sortie, he was entrusted with FPV control. The first FPV battles were challenging: “It was quite difficult. You have to make the drone reach the target point — which is much harder than just piloting. On top of that, I had to learn to solder, because I often repaired equipment in the field.”
The reward for his efforts came quickly. “When I first hit enemy equipment, I felt a huge rush. That time, we stopped an enemy column — a tank and two armored fighting vehicles. We hit the tank with a cumulative round, and then, together with adjacent units, finished off the AFVs,” — says “Tral”.
In another episode, acting together with a strike ‘Vampire,’ his crew destroyed two more AFVs with infantry, waiting until the enemy opened the hatches.
Today, “Tral” is involved in recruiting and training new pilots in his brigade: “There are guys who start flying quite well in a couple of hours. Others struggle more, but they compensate with their effort. I used to think UAVs were for young people, but now I know people over forty who fly excellently.”
On motivation, he speaks simply: “For me, Victory is returning home to my loved ones, knowing that no one threatens them anymore. But I know people for whom such a moment will never come. That’s why the enemy must be destroyed completely and irreversibly.”
