Yuriy Fedorenko is commander of the Achilles drone unit in the 92nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It wasn’t that we weren’t capable of stopping the invading soldiers. We weren’t allowed to.
Let me explain.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, I left my job as a member of the Kyiv City Council and volunteered to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine. For the past two years, I have been commanding the elite Achilles drone unit of the 92nd Brigade.
Achilles is made up of volunteers who initially joined as civilians, became infantrymen in combat and later mastered the ability to operate unmanned aerial vehicles. It has some of the best drone pilots in Ukraine, including our legend “Darwin,” a one-time gamer turned tank killer. We helped push the Russians back from Kyiv, liberated the Kharkiv region, and held the front line around the blasted hellscape of Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar on the eastern front for a year.
Drones have become integral to the defense of Ukraine, and the work Achilles does is critical. We have reconnaissance drones that identify attacking positions and soldiers, mapping out the battlefield. We have first-person-view (FPV), or self-detonating, drones that serve as clever and cheaper substitutes for short-range artillery such as mortars. We have longer range drones that can drop larger munitions on targets and even operate at night.
For every Ukrainian FPV drone, Russians seem to have at least three. For every Ukrainian reconnaissance drone, the numbers are even more lopsided. Electronically jamming their drones is crucial to protecting our soldiers and cities.
But our enemy has also become very adept at jamming.
One of my unit’s tasks is to “clean the sky.” We identify, and then disable, Russia’s means of conducting electronic warfare so we can fly our own drones — both the FPV attack drones to take out their tanks and push back the invading soldiers and our intelligence drones. Once we take out Russia’s jammers, we can identify their attack positions and then fire to stop them from advancing and destroying more Ukrainian cities. All the pieces work together in tandem.
Which brings us to today’s paradox. We have the drones ready to fly. We now have plenty of HIMARS and ATACMS thanks to the supplemental package passed by the U.S. Congress. But we are paralyzed because U.S. policy dictates we are not allowed to use American munitions on Russian territory. If we do, we risk losing future U.S. military support.
Russia knows this, and has adjusted its tactics accordingly. Unable to make substantial gains in eastern Ukraine thanks to the heroic efforts of brigades such as the 92nd and many others, Vladimir Putin’s men are now attacking Kharkiv, just 30 kilometers from the Russian border.
Ukrainian artillery shells reach only 25 kilometers. In turn, Russia has safely placed its jamming systems, city-destroying S-300 and S-400 missile launchers, and command centers some 30 to 40 kilometers from the border on the Russian side. Their soldiers therefore attack us with impunity. Though our FPVs could reach seven to 10 kilometers across the border to stop enemy soldiers and vehicles, this isn’t possible unless we can disable their jammers. We have no protection from Russian jets, which are now dropping massive “glide bombs” and retreating back across the border.
There is nothing worse — nothing more infuriating on the front lines — than my men being told to protect Ukraine, Europe and the West with one hand tied behind our back. It reminds me of that scene in “Braveheart” where the Scottish are mocking the British before battle — some soldiers even show their bare buttocks. This is what the Russians are doing to the West right now.
If we were given the green light, the Ukrainian Armed Forces could easily destroy the drone jammers, command centers, and missile launch sites with HIMARS and ATACMS. We know where they all are. We could stop the invaders in their tracks, and ensure no more Ukrainian cities are burned to the ground, in Kharkiv region and beyond.
In just a couple weeks, leaders from around the world will gather in Berlin for the Ukraine Recovery Conference dedicated to the “long-term reconstruction” of my country. What irony at this critical time. If we aren’t allowed to stop Russia, there will be nothing left to reconstruct.
I have two simple requests.
1. Please untie our hands and let us fight back against Russia for the benefit of the whole world. Just like we strike positions in occupied territory, we must be able to strike positions across the Russian border.
2. Help us protect the skies. We need more air defense. And, of course, we need the F-16 fighter jets that we have long been promised.
I don’t say this without appreciation. I know where we would be without help from the United States and its great citizens, many of whom have personally provided Achilles with thousands of drones. And I don’t ask this lightly. But the Biden administration’s nervousness about escalation is in fact providing cover for the Russians to escalate, as evidenced by its latest massacres.
I recently married the love of my life, Maria, whom I met in Kharkiv last year. She keeps me going in the most difficult of moments. We must move quickly. Ukraine will not have enough men for a second wave of mobilization. Every single day we are losing our best. We are fighting a battle that is a struggle not just for the future of Ukraine, but the future of us all. If we don’t stop them now, your children, your children’s children, will be fighting against Russia in the future.
Now is the moment to turn the tide with a clear victory. So help us — and let us — fight, and finish this war for the free world.
