Trained as an architect, now he demolishes invaders
Show notes
What does it take to plan and coordinate every drone mission in a brigade, day after day? For this episode of Defence Forward, we travelled to an underground location around 30 km from the Russian border to sit down with “Puer”, who plans and controls UAV operations at brigade headquarters in Ukraine’s 2nd Corps Khartiia, one of Ukraine’s most advanced and widely respected formations.
Before the war, Puer was an architect, interior designer and project manager working with British companies. In the army he worked through every position in an FPV crew, as reconnaissance drone operator, spotter and strike drone pilot, flying FPV, Mavic and Vampire drones. Today he oversees the planning, supply and coordination of UAV missions across all units in his brigade.
In this conversation we cover:
🔹 Life in an FPV crew, with up to 25 strike missions a day
🔹 Why tanks now take many drones to stop
🔹 How missions are queued and coordinated across units
🔹 Planning UAV operations at brigade level without micromanaging
🔹 After-action reviews: finding out what went wrong and fixing it
🔹 An expanding kill zone where there is no longer a yellow zone
🔹 Month-long rotations and 10 km walks to and from positions
🔹 Heavy bomber drones as a logistics lifeline
🔹 Matching crews to tasks based on skill and talent
🔹 How new products are tested, and Ukrainian vs Western manufacturers
🔹 AI terminal guidance and the move towards full autonomy
🔹 Life after the war, and the need for a long break
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Defence Forward is hosted by Jonathan Winch (Cylindr Defence, Copenhagen) and Dan Kucherenko (Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation, Kyiv), and produced by David Hoskin of Cylindr Defence.
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