Kyiv July 29th
You have to love the drone, even more than your girlfriend, more than yourself. It will save lives—your own, the people in your unit, and much further than that. They are changing the course of the war.
So says a young Ukrainian soldier at a graduation ceremony for new drone pilots outside Kyiv today at the Dronarium—a private training school that is a joint project with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Like many things in Ukraine today, this is participatory—you can “dronate” and feel part of the war effort through United24, a sort of clearing house for international donations organised under the office of President Zelensky. And if you are squeamish about donating money for weapons directly, the website let’s you choose to buy medical supplies or contribute to reconstruction. Credit cards, PayPal and Crypto currencies all accepted. Nearly half a million dollars a day are being raised in this way.
Ukraine is the first Crowd Funded war—nearly anyone can get involved and the range of voluntary activity to help cover the country’s needs in fighting the war are astounding, everything from crowdfunding groups that save up to buy major weapons systems—one drone or artillery system at a time—to humanitarian needs and other activity of every kind and description.
Thousands have answered this call and gone to Ukraine. There are people on today’s junket—some with serious careers and financial security who have given that up to be here. The rest are the local and foreign press, everyone from The Washington Post to a young Canadian film maker, busking around for a first film project. Ukraine and the Ukrainians make space for everyone.
Today’s press junket has elements of a high school class trip—a lot of milling around and being herded by minders from the ministry of Digital Transformation—but with an edge. We are on a military installation—the location cannot be disclosed and we are under orders not to publish photos with the faces, names or insignia of personnel.
After a graduation ceremony inside a MASH style army tent, with diplomas handed out by Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, the 31 year old Mykhailo Fedorov, someone with rock star status in this country, we are let out for a walk around with interviews and demonstrations of the drones.
The drones in use for training are commercially available models, made in China, mostly, and can be purchased by anyone. But the government’s Drone Force trades up to aircraft sized models that are major weapons platforms.
So, are these drone operators graduating today yesterday’s video gamers and tech geeks?
Not at all. One of the people here today is a US Air Force veteran with a string of qualifications, degrees and direct experience in Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere. Drone operators, he explains, have to be fully qualified pilots in NATO and there is a big transition toward these units and away from traditional, manned aircraft. The Drone Force is the new kid on the block, and like any new unit, they are having to push for status.
The group breaks up, the new drone pilots to be transferred out to their new units on the front line. But one of the graduates is here for different reasons, someone who is not yet in the military and has taken the course to be qualified in case he is ever needed.
Yaroslav is a computer programmer from the city of Kharkiv. On the drive back to Kyiv he recounts the opening days of the war when Kharkiv, 20km from the Russian border, looked like it might fall, and which many had assumed it easily would. His manner is casual, actually cheerful, about being in a city under siege, and when getting away was a near run thing. Ukrainians are adaptable. They are also incredibly brave.