Ukrainian rapper who leads drone war against Russians

The $1.3bn campaign is pioneered by a man who develops new ways of bringing death, and then writes about his work

- SAM KILEY

Oleksandr Yarmak has not the slightest sympathy for Russians. At 33, he is head of research and development in Ukraine’s drone warfare, devising ever more creative ways to make the most of the lethal technology.

He is also a chart-topping artist who has used his years fighting on the frontline turning his experiences into rap songs that have become national war chants. His troops watch their Russian counterparts on Ukrainian military feeds bowing, waving, curling up in terror, and sometimes just standing still, in the final seconds before a drone hits them.

Ukraine is locked in the Western world’s first 21st century war where tiny aircraft dominate the battlefield and hunt individual soldiers. These are chased down by pilots from Unmanned System Force, who hide in bunkers.

Pilots wearing “first person view” headsets say the drone’s-eye perspective can reveal the very look on a soldier’s face in the moment of his death. Drone pilots kill by crashing the drone into his body and blowing it apart.

Small wonder Russian troops call these night-time Ukrainian drones “Baba Yaga”. Generations of children have been terrified by the tales of the legendary witch who flies in a basket paddled by broomsticks and bakes babies alive. Now Baba Yaga brings death by dropping bombs from a flying basket made of carbon fibre and whizzing plastic.

A prototype drone sits in the corner of an office where Yarmak and I meet. It can fly almost silently at night and find its victims in total darkness, using thermal imagery. It carries at least four bombs. Its Ukrainian name is “Vampire”.

Yarmak began his military career in 2022, signing up when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Soon, like many others, he found small commercial drones could be adapted to drop grenades and mortar bombs on Russian troops.