How territorial defense units protect Kyiv from enemy drones — first-hand account

29 February 2024, 10:50 PM

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An intense blizzard in sub-zero temperatures made the suburbs of Kyiv feel rather inhospitable late on Jan. 11.

A group of soldiers of the 242nd Separate Territorial Defense Battalion was waiting for NV journalists on a dark street.

“Good evening,” a short man in a camo smiles, addressing us.

“Oleksandr Zhyhun, deputy battalion commander.”

His unit includes several MFGs guarding the skies above Kyiv. It’s they who destroy Russian drones that occasionally reach the capital.

Zhyhun invites the journalists to his car, which, judging by the position of the steering wheel, should be driving not on Ukrainian roads, but somewhere in Japan, the United Kingdom, or its former colonies. The deputy commander sits in the driver’s seat, and we set off into the darkness.

From time to time, a walkie-talkie starts working next to Zhyhun, as well as a tablet with specialized software tracking any airborne threats as they are detected by the air defenses. Everything is calm now.

“What are your expectations for tonight?” we ask the deputy commander, pointing to the tablet.

“In fact, we had information this morning about a serious attack tonight or early in the morning. Maybe like the one that happened after New Year,” he answers calmly.

On the New Year’s Eve he mentioned, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched a record number of drones on Ukraine: 96 drones before midnight and another 36 after.

On the way to the military base, Zhyhun tells the entire service record of his battalion. Its soldiers first ousted the Russians from Kyiv Oblast in early 2022, and then engaged in battles in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts.

“Half of our battalion has returned from Klishchiivka [near Bakhmut area],” says Zhyhun.

“Another half protected the skies here.”

The battles in Kharkiv Oblast in 2022 turned out to be the bloodiest for the unit. It was then, in the battle for the village of Dementiivka, that some of the battalion’s soldiers were captured by the Russians. Two of them were returned in a POW exchange in the summer of 2023.

The first Shahed drone

We can see the silhouettes of the soldiers in the windows of one of the battalion bases, an hour and a half drive away from Kyiv. Just outside the door is a point where soldiers monitor the skies with a tablet. A small white dog guards their peace.

Zhyhun leads NV through the corridors into the mess hall. Here he introduces us to the soldiers who shot down a Shahed drone on New Year’s Eve, the first on their tally.

“Just don’t ask us tricky questions,” a tall, dark-haired, middle-aged soldier (nom de guerre: Pyatak) says with a smile.

Another respectable-looking soldier with a gray beard, known as Uncle Sanya [Oleksandr], a retiree and former liquidator of the 1986 Chornobyl NPP disaster, stands next to him. The third and youngest member of the group is a man wearing a balaclava (nom de guerre: Ka 13).

Everyone has more than one experience of ground battle. However, their duties recently switched to air defense.

“So, which one of you shot down the Shahed drone?” we asked the troops.

“All three,” they answer almost unanimously.

The soldiers must conduct simultaneous heavy machine gun fire to shoot down a drone. Therefore, it’s not always possible to determine whose shot was decisive.

To down a drone, they need to lead it, aiming at least three or four lengths of the target ahead of it, Pyatak explains.

“We shot it [our first Shahed drone] down almost overhead, at a height of about 100 meters. It then tilted and exploded on a field,” the soldier explains.

Pyatak, together with Uncle Sanya, then worked with 5.45mm Kalashnikov machine guns (RPK). Their comrade-in-arms, Ka 13, fired a more powerful weapon, the so-called Pokemon, which is a 7.62mm Kalashnikov machine gun mounted on a turret in the back of a pickup truck.

Uncle Sanya, 58, sitting on a bench, tells his own story with a serious expression on his face. However, as soon as he remembers the downing of the drone, he immediately breaks into a smile.

“I had such an adrenaline rush!” he recalls and begins to laugh.

“I was wheezing, I was calling... I was so full of joy!”

The soldier admits that he’s very happy to hear from people on social media thanking the Air Defense Forces for their work during nighttime attacks on the city.

“When I said that we’re leaving [to hunt down] Shaheds, everyone thanked me very much,” he says. “Everyone.”

“Why did you go into service at the beginning of the invasion?” NV asked.

“I have grandchildren,” Uncle Sanya answers promptly.

“I left only for their sake. Many people here are like that: for mothers, for children, for women. Who else could go? No one.”

For the sake of grandchildren

The Ukrainian military began using MFGs in the northern operational zone, including Kyiv Oblast, as early as late 2022. In the autumn of 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced an increase in the number of MFGs deployed in the north. According to Lt. Gen. Serhiy Nayev, former Joint Forces Commander, this is necessary to “step up the effectiveness of the air defense system.”

Yuriy Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, explained in an interview with NV the increase in active MFGs was a forced step. After all, the Ukrainian air defense system doesn’t have enough assets to cover the territory of the entire country.

“This is something we can already do at home,” he said.

“That is, to get all the available small arms, including large-caliber machine guns, and to equip the shooter himself with additional equipment, such as thermal imagers, night vision device, spotlights, laser pointers, etc. All this improves the MFGs’ efficiency. However, there is a sang: the effective engagement range of these groups is only a couple kilometers.”

Many factors affect whether soldiers will be able to shoot down a drone with small arms, including visibility, target’s velocity, spotlight power, and weapons used by soldiers.

“Sometimes you hear it [the drone], but you can’t see it,” says Pyatak.

“But I try to shoot somewhere close [to the sound’s origin].”

If the soldiers fail to shoot down a drone, they report its heading to their colleagues in other units.

The situation is the same with cruise missiles: the 242nd has no weapons to hit them, but they collect data on the flight paths of high-velocity targets and pass it on.

The soldiers admit that it’s important to detect a drone when it flies past their positions as they have more chances to destroy it. After all, Shahed drones constantly change course, fly at different altitudes, sometimes even turn off the engine so as not to be heard, Zhyhun explains.

MFGs patrol along several lines outside Kyiv. Each group has one or more designated positions: once occupied, the soldiers must stay there until the threat is over.

According to Zhyhun, his battalion is armed with different types of machine guns to hit Shahed drones, including U.S.-made 12.7mm M2 Browning, Soviet NSV and DShK, as well as a more powerful 14.5mm KPVT.

However, it’s easier for mobile groups in other battalions—who are armed with short-range anti-aircraft missile systems, anti-aircraft artillery, and portable anti-aircraft missile systems—to shoot down incoming drones.

Drone hunting subtleties

It’s almost 11 p.m. NV talks with Ka 13, the soldier who mans the machine gun.

“Here, all the guys are fighters, we don’t need to tell anyone what to do,” he says.

“All of them have already received a baptism by fire. Everyone knows everything. The motivation is very high as we must shoot down the drones so that they don’t reach the civilian population. We took the oath to the people of Ukraine, and this is our job. There’s no other way.

The soldier speaks calmly and confidently. Like the rest of his comrades-in-arms, he joined the military voluntarily. He fought for Kyiv Oblast, and later for Kharkiv Oblast, where he was seriously wounded after being hit by an enemy tank. His commander was killed after a shrapnel hit him under the ear, while another soldier had an arm and a leg injured. He himself had a bone in his hand shattered, while another piece of shrapnel hit the back of his head. The doctors didn’t dare to try and extract the piece of metal, fearing causing even more injury.

With the fragment in his head, the man spent a year in the hospital and was deemed to have “limited” fitness for service. Nevertheless, he rejoined the battalion. Although he cannot do all the physical work as before, he continued his service.

“I still want to fulfill [my military duty], to help,” says Ka 13.

“And that’s how I ended up in a mobile group: I won’t be able to go to the front because of my health. The guys are doing their work there, and we’re doing ours here.”

“Have you managed to recover from your arm injury?”

“Not fully.”

“So, you’re shooting down drones with an injured arm?”

“Well, we’re trying” the soldier says and pauses. “Someone must do it.”

Ka 13 believes they were lucky with the downed drone as it flew right over their heads. At other times, they flew a long distance away.

“We saw it, heard it, and tried to shoot them down. Unfortunately, they changed course course,” the soldier explains.

“You have no time to change your position. Because when you get there, another group [of drones] will fly over where you stayed before.”

Shahed drones mostly fly at a speed of up to 200 km/h, he says. So, the soldiers decide for themselves whether they can hit the target from their position and whether it will be helpful.

“That is, you won’t shoot just for the sake of shooting,” Ka 13 says.

“You need to be confident that the distance allows you to shoot effectively.”

The soldiers are mindful that drones will fly over villages and cities. Therefore, if they shoot it down, they try to do it for sure. However, sometimes they score a hit on a drone’s fuel tank. After that, it can fly for some time and fall far away.

“You’re worried that it might fly into residential buildings. You don’t hit it mindlessly, but you want no casualties. We must destroy them,” Ka 13 continues.

“It would be better for them to turn around and fly back. That would be great.”

Like firefighters

The work of MFGs resembles that of firefighters. After an air raid alert is on and they receive the order, they have only a few minutes to take up positions.

The 242nd Battalion demonstrated this to NV on a training trip.

After a command on the walkie-talkie, they promptly put on outerwear, got into a pickup truck, and drove to their position.

The journalists followed them in another car, accompanied by Zhyhun.

“About 10 minutes after receiving the order, the mobile group is already in position,” explains the deputy commander.

All together, we first drive onto an asphalt road, but in a moment, we find ourselves on a dirt road in the middle of a field. The car is constantly tossed over the bumps.

“You see, this is the best job,” says Zhyhun and smiles as he drives the pickup truck along snowy roads at night.

“Such landscapes, winter! I drive a car, breathe fresh air.”

“See what the roads are like here,” he continues after another toss.

“That’s why we constantly need cars, especially ones with an all-wheel drive.”

The car may drive to a firing position several times in one shift because after the first wave of Shahed drones, the Russians often launch another one.

When our cavalcade arrives at the scene, the pickup truck with Pyatak, Uncle Sanya, and Ka 13 takes a firing position.

Ka 13 goes to the machine gun. A small spotlight lights up the sky.

“Three, two, fire,” he shouts.

The soldiers create a powerful hail of bullets, illuminated by the laser pointer of the main machine gun. The lead soars upward, tearing the imaginary target into pieces. The soldiers work in the same way when dealing with a real threat.

They were lucky not to go on a real combat mission on that frosty night. Their shift ended at 9 a.m. on Jan. 12.

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