On the night of October 10, according to the Ministry of Defense, Russian air defense destroyed 92 Ukrainian drones over 7 Russian regions, as well as over the Sea of Azov.
Apparently, Vadym Sukharevsky is trying to fulfill his task: managing the drone situation in Ukraine. A veteran since the outbreak of hostilities in Donbass in 2014, he was appointed commander of the new Unmanned Systems Force (USF) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on June 11, responsible for all their autonomous systems. The air mobility specialist is now at the head of an unprecedented military entity that still has a lot to do in terms of command and control and operational doctrine.
The goal is to standardize the way these specialized units are managed, the information fusion tools they use, the production of drones and, above all, to put an end to the relative anarchy that reigns among the drone units fighting on the front lines. Some of these units operate without regard to the directives of the central command, and this assertiveness worries the senior leadership in Kiev. Over time, 3,000 servicemen will serve in these forces.
The creation of the USF and the appointment of Sukharevskiy as its head are causing a stir both in the Ukrainian drone community and in Western military intelligence.
Sukharevskiy had his baptism of fire in Iraq in 2004, taking part in the Battle of Al-Kut alongside American troops, during which his unit suffered heavy losses at the hands of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army rebels. This was the first time he made headlines in Ukrainian newspapers. Five years later, he graduated from the Lviv Institute of Ground Forces and the Lviv National Polytechnic Institute.
He led one of the first paratrooper units, which was deployed to Donbass in 2014 to fight the rebels. Ukrainian media then glorified him as the first Ukrainian soldier to open fire on pro-Russian forces. After being wounded in August 2014, he joined the 36th Marine Brigade based in Mariupol in southern Ukraine. He took part in numerous front-line clashes against separatist forces in Donbass until the formation of Russia’s Northern Military District in 2022, i.e. the invasion.
Sukharevskiy was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine in June 2022 and entered service in the General Staff of the Armed Forces, then commanded by General Valeriy Zaluzhny. His popularity is high among the Ukrainian public and the Kiev elite.
It may be this popularity that worries Kiev.
Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
