The Ukrainian ‘hunter killers’ carrying out kamikaze drone strikes on Putin’s forces

Valentyn Ilchuk leads a team of ‘hunter killers’ who are using drones to hunt Russian targets in one of the counter-offensive areas (Picture: Valua Chuk/Facebook/Getty)

A Ukrainian infantryman has revealed how his team is using ‘tiny birds’ to destroy Russian tanks as his homeland shifts to drone warfare.

Valentyn Ilchuk is part of a highly mobile team of military-trained volunteers that has fought in some of the country’s hottest spots in support of larger Ukrainian formations.

He now leads a three-man ‘hunter-killer crew’ using first-person view (FPV) kamikaze strike drones loaded with high explosives, capable of taking out targets far behind Russian lines.

The former University of Warwick exchange student told Metro.co.uk he has had British donations to his crowdfunder for the rapid provision of drones to his team in the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, one of the areas of the Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian forces.

His crew has been using equipment such as DJI Mavic quadcopters and heavy-duty ‘agro-drones’ which are used as bombers. They are also trained to fly winged unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and have used one that had previously been used to smuggle cigarettes into Romania.

Valentyn Ilchuk has swapped life as a digital agency boss for the frontline defending Ukraine from the Russian invasion (Picture: Valua Chuk/Facebook)

Using high levels of improvisation, they use the drones to deploy grenades or larger payloads depending on the target, which can include tanks.

The team leader said: ‘Drones have become an amazing tool for small groups like us to hit the Russians where it hurts.

‘Usually we would work alongside artillery or mortar teams, but now with FPV drones we can do the strikes ourselves, which works miracles.

‘Using the virtual reality goggles for first-person view we can fly the drones into the target where they successfully explode.

‘It is really changing the face of warfare right now.

The drone crews have been able to strike Russian troops from a distance using a variety of uncrewed aerial systems (Picture: Valua Chuk/Facebook)

‘One of those tiny birds costing 500 bucks can take out a tank or a Grad [missile launcher], not in one hit, but by severely damaging it or immobilising it at the very least.

‘If you ask me what war will be like in five to 10 years, there will be far fewer rifles. Sometimes we joke about having to drag our rifles around with us, because in half a year we haven’t shot them once. This is the future of warfare; shooting drones at each other rather than bullets or shells.’

The FPV drones are kamikaze weapons to which the soldiers attach various types of improvised explosive devices.

Mr Illchuk is crowdsourcing for equipment, which includes control boards, batteries, chargers, munitions and ground station software and hardware. In an appeal on Facebook he described his ‘hunter-killer crew’ as ‘eagerly trying to upgrade and resupply’.

A blurb on the fundraising page reads: ‘Imagine how many losses there would be if we stormed these targets with manpower.’

The appeal has so far raised around $25k (£20k) from a $45k (£36k) target sourced from donations from across the world, including the UK.

Mr Ilchuk explained: ‘We usually fly behind the Russian frontline and go deeper in. They have a system where they report back so the radio warfare part of the Russian army can try to bring us down by jamming our signals. It’s a two-stage war. One is carrying the payload to where it needs to hit and not be hit in the process and the other is to break through the jamming.

‘In the south there is barely any urban combat as usually a contested village is just rubble. To prepare for advances by troops on a position, village or the terrain around it, artillery and drones, and a combination of both, are by far the most effective weapons. This is where military technology is heading and we are evolving along with it.’

The digital agency boss is part of the Thor Squad, which consists of Donbas war veterans who had been in civilian roles before voluntarily mobilising at the start of Vladimir Putin’s disastrous full-scale invasion 18 months ago.

He has previously described taking part in a fierce battle to liberate Lukyanivka on the northern outskirts of Kyiv and expressed his joy at being among forward troops in the liberation of the Kherson region.

The squad’s members have adapted to utilise the aerial technology and are currently working in drone strike teams across Zaporizhzhia.

A video of one successful hit shared by Mr Ilchuk, filmed in Donetsk, shows smoke rising from a Russian target in an operation his team carried out alongside UAV operators from the 59th Motorised Brigade.

The drones are used to carry munitions ranging from grenades to larger payloads of explosives (Picture: Valua Chuk/Facebook)

His wartime service is a far cry from his civilian life as the boss of Zgraya Digital, which specialises in websites, apps and branding.

He studied International Business and Marketing at the University of Richmond in the US, which included an exchange term at Warwick in 2005.

The Thor Squad, which has been in Zaporizhzhia since late November, is registered with the police so it can lawfully fight and is used as a task force, which includes combat, reconnaissance and support missions.

Drone warfare has rapidly become an integral tool for the versatile Ukrainian military in its efforts to drive out the invasion forces.

Valenty Ilchuk has shared his experiences from the frontline of Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s all-out invasion (Picture: Valua Chuk/Facebook)

Damage has been inflicted far behind enemy lines, with repeated attacks on Moscow and on air bases and other military targets deep inside Russia.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are continuing offensive operations in at least two sectors of the eastern front, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said yesterday. Kyiv’s forces were said by the research group to have advanced near the shattered city of Bakhmut, along the Adviivka-Donetsk City line and in the west of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Putin is attempting to shore up ammunition for his war with the visit of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un to Russia.

They are likely to discuss the provision of artillery munitions to the Kremlin’s forces, according to the ISW.

MORE : Ukrainian soldier vows to ‘fight to end’ after 365 days of war

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Brits have been sending donations for drones used by a Ukrainian team on the frontline of their homeland’s counter-offensive.