EASTERN UKRAINE (AP) 鈥� The commander leading Ukraine鈥檚 drone war says his country鈥檚 recent strikes in Crimea are the first phase of a campaign aimed at rendering the peninsula 鈥� 鈥� unusable as a staging ground for Russian forces.
Maj. Robert 鈥淢agyar鈥� Brovdi, one of Ukraine鈥檚 most prominent commanders among a new generation of soldiers, said his forces could strike seven times more military targets in Crimea if the money pledged by Western allies came faster.
鈥淐rimea falls within the key conceptual pillars on the path to ending the war,鈥� Brovdi told The Associated Press in an interview.
Despite that shortfall, Ukraine鈥檚 summer campaign in Crimea has already inflicted significant damage: striking rail bridges, and power infrastructure to disrupt and blind Russian air defenses as drones fly in.
Brovdi said his forces are equipped at just 14% of what they would need to carry out the Crimea campaign at full capacity.
A firm believer in numbers since his past life running an international grain trading business, Brovdi joined Ukraine鈥檚 territorial defense as a volunteer in the war鈥檚 opening days. He rose quickly, commanding one of the country鈥檚 most effective drone brigades before being tapped to lead a force with no precedent before this war 鈥� Ukraine鈥檚 Unmanned Systems Forces.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that the production capacity of Ukrainian manufacturers doesn鈥檛 allow us to make the necessary quantities鈥� of drones, Brovdi said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the banal problem of untimely financing, which our partners do allocate, but which moves significantly slower than our plans.鈥�
A lover of the arts
A devoted patron of the arts, Brovdi’s underground command post resembles a museum, with pieces of Ukrainian art on display, including by renowned painter Maria Prymachenko 鈥� each with small placards noting their titles and a QR code linking to more information. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 touch the sculpture,鈥� reads a sign beneath one piece.
The artwork sits against a backdrop of dozens of screens streaming live footage from the front, along with real-time data that drives decisions on the battlefield. Soldiers can grab good coffee, pick a book, work out or rest in sleeping pods 鈥� a culture that feels closer to a Silicon Valley office than a war room.
They work around the clock to try to prevent Crimea from functioning as a staging ground for the Russian military, said Brovdi, whose call sign, Magyar, nods to his ethnic the western Ukrainian region bordering Hungary.
He pointed to one sign of progress 鈥� in four recent large-scale Russian missile barrages from the peninsula, only five missiles were launched in total, a drop he credited to the systematic destruction of Russian air defenses there. The AP couldn鈥檛 independently verify the claim.
To open that 鈥渨indow鈥� for drones to strike the peninsula without being shot down en masse, his forces destroyed more than 300 air defense assets over recent months 鈥� surface-to-air systems, radar stations, electronic warfare equipment.
The window metaphor sends him into a sidetrack about something personal 鈥� he loves sleeping with one open, a pleasure he rarely gets anymore as one of Russia鈥檚 most hunted men, who spends most of his time in underground bunkers.
Forcing Russia out of Crimea
Much of Russia’s Soviet-era air defense hardware runs on the power grid, which is one of the reasons Crimea’s electrical infrastructure has become a recurring target. Russian soldiers become 鈥渂lind,鈥� left with just machine guns and rifles, he said. The tactic has also impacted access to power for civilians, and Brovdi said he has twice publicly apologized to Ukrainians living in Crimea for the disruptions.
Wherever Starlink connectivity reaches across Crimea, his forces can now destroy even the most heavily defended target using an average of just three drones, mixing munitions with different characteristics and warheads depending on what鈥檚 being hit. He described the strikes as deliberately calibrated 鈥� different munitions for a bridge pier than for a fuel truck or a moving train 鈥� and said his forces avoid hitting civilian infrastructure.
鈥淐reating conditions that make it impossible for any kind of military capability 鈥� to remain there will make Crimea uninteresting … as a military staging ground,鈥� he said.
Ukraine is also working to dismantle Crimea鈥檚 role as a naval base 鈥� a blow to Russia鈥檚 presence near NATO鈥檚 borders, he added.
The campaign鈥檚 early results have not been made public, Brovdi said. But roughly two weeks into the offensive that began in late June, he said Ukrainian intelligence indicated Russian authorities had ordered all military commands and security services to relocate off the peninsula, along with a covert order to remove secret archives and artworks. The AP could not independently verify the account.
Threats from Russia
Meanwhile, Russia is working to counter Ukraine鈥檚 edge. It is installing jamming systems at a scale that will, to some degree, degrade Starlink connectivity, Brovdi said.
communications system to rival Starlink, he said. 鈥淭his is a risk for the entire planet,鈥� Brovdi said, 鈥渂ecause a dictatorship will gain access to information across the whole globe.鈥�
He also pointed to other threats facing Ukraine. The concentration of jet-powered Shahed drones, which are much harder for Ukraine to shoot down, has increased two and a half times in recent weeks, he said.
Russia’s military can currently fire a simultaneous salvo of 77 ballistic and cruise missiles, he said, and plans to increase that to 200. That is one of Ukraine鈥檚 most vulnerable points, since the country is running short of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot 鈥� the only system Ukraine has in its 鈥� meaning dozens fired by Russia during mass barrages get through and hit their targets.
鈥淓ven if they only manage half of that, it will all be flying at us,鈥� Brovdi said. The only way to bring the number down, he said, is by striking every facility involved in producing those missiles 鈥� underscoring the importance of
Ukraine’s plan for Russia’s Wildberries
Ukraine has Russia鈥檚 largest online marketplace sometimes described as the country鈥檚 answer to Amazon, and Brovdi named it as a target.
鈥淲ildberries is, first of all, a supply platform 鈥� it鈥檚 the war鈥檚 quartermaster,鈥� he said, noting the company runs a dedicated section selling goods for Russia鈥檚 military.
The and has accused Ukraine of striking civilian targets. Russia regularly attacks Ukrainian logistics and retail facilities.
At the same time, Brovdi said, the strikes on Wildberries are meant to make ordinary Russians feel the war directly, in hopes the resulting desire to end it could weigh on Russia鈥檚 ability to keep fighting.
Brovdi declined to give a timeline for the Wildberries campaign, saying only that the strikes will continue 鈥渦ntil it becomes impossible for it to recover quickly.鈥�
鈥淯ltimately, Wildberries is, forgive the expression, a consumer gambling addiction,鈥� he said, arguing that losing access to it 鈥� like restrictions on social media 鈥� creates an intrusion on one’s personal life that most Russians feel.
鈥淚t turned out to be a sensitive sensor of the comfort of Russia鈥檚 massive population 鈥� people who consider themselves completely untouched by the actions of the aggressor country,鈥� he said.
鈥斺赌斺赌�
This story was updated to clarify that Russia can fire salvos of both cruise and ballistic missiles. An earlier version mentioned only ballistic missiles.
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AP reporters Vasilisa Stepanenko in eastern Ukraine and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv contributed.
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