Oleksandr Radchuk, Captain, 22nd Unmanned Systems Battalion “Kratos”

Oleksandr “Pilum” Radchuk, a company commander within the 22nd Unmanned Systems Battalion “Kratos,” speaks with Ukrinform about the importance of layered defense and the challenges facing UAV units.

Before the war, Oleksandr had a successful career at a major energy company, a family, and a passion for historical reenactment. Yet when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he chose to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Since then, he has progressed from defending Kyiv as a frontline soldier to serving as a mortar operator and eventually becoming a captain in a UAV unit.

Ukrinform: How did the war begin for you?

Oleklsandr Radchuk: I was on vacation in the Carpathian Mountains. I was learning to ski, and on February 23 I finally managed my first run on my own. The next day, everything changed. Everything shut down.

It was one hell of a surprise from the Russians. (laughs)

I was there with my wife and child. My first thought was that we had to get back immediately. At the time, I was working in the energy sector, and I was already receiving calls telling me to return because there was urgent work to be done.

My wife and child went to Austria to stay with friends, while I boarded an evacuation train—almost completely empty—and headed back to Kyiv.

The first thing I saw when I walked into my apartment—I have a large north-facing window—was Grad rockets being launched in the distance. (The BM-21 Grad is a 122 mm multiple-launch rocket system.)

At first, I continued going to work from time to time. I was called in to repair a substation, but before long I reported to the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TCC). Five days later, I was told: “Pack your things—you’re heading to the Presidential Brigade.”

UI: You worked for DTEK. Has your civilian experience been useful in the Armed Forces?

OR: Not in any direct sense. At DTEK, I worked as an energy engineer and supervised three people. Here, I’m responsible for dozens of personnel and dealing with an entirely different set of challenges.

That said, my technical background has certainly helped. If a command-and-observation post needs to be connected to a power source, I can handle it without any trouble. I specialized in electronics and industrial automation, so adapting to military equipment and technology has been much easier for me than it might have been otherwise.

UI: What challenges did you face in the beginning?

OR: What struck me most was the sheer diversity of people in the Armed Forces. In civilian life, many of these individuals would probably never have crossed paths. You have recent university graduates serving alongside business owners, professionals, and people with significant career achievements. Everyone brings different personalities, interests, life experiences, and personal challenges.

Learning how to work with such a broad mix of people was one of the biggest adjustments. You quickly realize that there is no universal approach—each person requires individual understanding and leadership.

UI: Do businesspeople tend to be more difficult or arrogant?

OR: No. The people who came here voluntarily from government institutions or the business world were never a problem. In my experience, those with strong educational or professional backgrounds often adapt more easily, largely because they made a conscious decision to join the Armed Forces. When someone chooses to be here, their attitude toward service tends to be very different.

UI: You’re with Kratos now, but you started out in the Presidential Brigade. Tell us about your combat path.

OR: I spent three years in what we called the “Kyiv cauldron.” During that time, our unit was reorganized three times, though the core group of people remained unchanged. I took part in the defense of Kyiv and initially served with MT-12 Rapira anti-tank guns.

That was where I effectively taught myself artillery. The guidance I received was fairly straightforward: “Here’s your platoon. Figure it out and make it work.” So I learned through practice, responsibility, and necessity.

UI: How did you end up in Kratos?

OR: After a while, I felt I had reached a dead end in my previous unit. Psychologically, it can be difficult to remain in the same place for a long period and feel as though you are not contributing as much as you could, especially when you are not directly involved in combat operations.

One day, I approached the brigade’s chief of artillery and asked to be transferred to a mortar unit. He approved the request, and I was assigned to the 22nd Battalion. At that point, I knew absolutely nothing about the unit or what lay ahead.

UI: Did that mortar battalion eventually become Kratos?

OR: No. It was a mortar battery within the 22nd Battalion. I spent some time serving as a mortar operator before the unit was pulled back and reorganized into an Unmanned Systems Battalion.

UI: Which did you find more engaging: the mortar battery or the UAV battalion?

OR: The mortar battery was a well-oiled machine. Everything was already established, and the system functioned smoothly. When I was working on the line as a mortar operator, there was certainly more adrenaline involved.

To be honest, I still miss firing a mortar from time to time. (laughs)

The work I do now is fascinating in a different way, but much of it involves building systems and processes from the ground up. We are constantly dealing with personnel shortages. After more than four years of war, many servicemen are facing health issues, and people regularly have to leave positions or reduce their workload because of their physical condition. Managing those challenges has become part of everyday life.

Take today, for example. I need to move personnel, but the route is blocked by a burned-out armored vehicle. At the same time, one of my soldiers is unable to go out for rotation because of health problems, so I have to find a replacement at short notice.

UI: What are your responsibilities as a company commander?

OR: My primary responsibility is organizing the work of personnel in the field. That includes planning deployments and rotations, coordinating transportation, ensuring that ammunition and supplies reach the right places, and keeping track of who is doing what and where.

A large part of the job is also managing people. Every servicemember eventually encounters personal, professional, or operational challenges, and when those issues arise, they usually turn to the company commander for help or guidance.

A significant part of the job is also personnel management. Soldiers inevitably encounter all kinds of challenges—professional, logistical, and personal—and when they do, the company commander is usually the first person they turn to for help.

UI: What is in shortest supply: equipment, ammunition, or personnel?

OR: In reconnaissance, we do not use ammunition in the conventional sense, and in the company where I previously served there was no shortage of it. As for the drones and other systems we operate, supplies are generally adequate.

That said, we are sometimes short of smaller but essential items—things like propellers, charging stations, and other consumables that keep the equipment operational.

What we truly lack is armored transport for personnel. The biggest challenge is the shortage of lightly armored vehicles that can safely move people to and from positions. We are also short of ordinary pickup trucks. On paper, I may have enough vehicles assigned to me, but in reality many of them are out of service—some damaged by explosions, others simply worn out by the harsh conditions in which they operate.

Armored vehicles are critical because the difference can be a matter of life and death. If an FPV drone strikes a standard pickup truck, casualties are almost inevitable. An armored vehicle may also be destroyed, but the chances of the personnel inside surviving are significantly higher.

UI: You work directly with unmanned systems. In your view, who is advancing faster and gaining the upper hand in this field—Ukraine or the enemy?

OR: Let’s put it this way: we lead in innovation, while they lead in scaling. Thanks to their authoritarian system of governance, the enemy can expand production much more rapidly. That is one of the inherent advantages of an authoritarian state: it can quickly concentrate resources on a specific objective by redirecting industrial capacity and manpower from other sectors.

UI: People often say that as soon as we develop something new, they copy it and mass-produce it.

OR: That is largely true. We were the first to introduce fiber-optic-controlled drones, but now the Russians field them in large numbers. At the same time, when it comes to heavy bomber drones—platforms such as the Vampire, Bat, and similar systems—as far as I can judge from my area of responsibility, we still hold a clear advantage.

UI: From a strategic standpoint, what needs to be improved in the field of unmanned systems?

OR: Above all, we need more drone pilots. We also need a wider range of drone platforms tailored to different missions.

Another priority, in my opinion, is strengthening the layered structure of our defense. Ideally, I would like to have drone crews positioned farther from the line of combat contact, capable of striking enemy targets with long-range systems from comparatively safe locations.

This is an area we are already working on within the battalion, although my own focus remains close-range reconnaissance.

We also need to increase flight endurance and operational range. The farther a drone can fly and remain airborne, the farther our crews can be positioned from the front line. That would solve many practical problems at once—making personnel transportation safer, simplifying logistics, and reducing overall operational risks.

If our teams could operate from greater distances, many of the challenges I deal with on a daily basis would become significantly easier to manage.

My biggest challenge is manpower. I simply need more people to maintain a sustainable rotation cycle.

UI: How long do your soldiers typically remain on position without a break?

OR: At the moment, some of my men have already been there for eight consecutive days. They are due to be rotated out today.

UI: So a week on position is the norm?

OR: Yes, about seven days on average. That said, the situation is gradually improving. We are growing, adapting, and refining our processes. One major improvement has been the development of drone-based logistics support.

That has been a significant step forward because every vehicle movement near the front line carries risk. The fewer trips we have to make by road, the safer both personnel and equipment are.

UI: Russian propaganda has recently claimed that Ukraine has deployed new drones that are causing serious concern among Russian forces.

OR: New systems appear constantly. Roughly every three months, something new emerges that changes the rules of the game and forces both sides to adapt.

UI: If you were to write your memoirs one day, what would be the first thing you would write about?

OR: The people.

More than anything else, I would write about the people I have met during the war. Nowhere else have I encountered such a diverse collection of individuals as I have in the military.

The Armed Forces are, in many ways, a cross-section of society. In civilian life, people tend to stay within their own social circles and interact mostly with others who share similar backgrounds, professions, and views. In the army, all of those boundaries disappear.

One of the biggest shocks when you join is finding yourself surrounded by people you might never have met under any other circumstances. They come from different regions, professions, age groups, and walks of life, and each brings a unique perspective.

The challenge—and the lesson—is learning how to work with all of them. This is not a private company where you can simply dismiss someone because personalities clash. You work with the team you have, and success depends on finding a way to understand each person and build an effective relationship with them.

UI: On the fifth year of the war, what helps you maintain your mental resilience?

OR: A clear and unwavering belief that we will endure, prevail, and eventually return home to our families.

UI: You have a rather unusual hobby. Your participation in medieval knightly tournaments eventually gave way to participation in real warfare. Do the battles of the past have anything in common with those of today? Has your knowledge of medieval warfare ever proved useful?

OR: For many years, I have been a member of Flandria, a Kyiv-based historical reenactment club.

As for whether that hobby has been useful during the war, it is difficult to say. Historical reenactment and real combat are fundamentally different things. The greatest benefit, in my view, lies in developing a deeper understanding of history and the processes that shape societies and conflicts.

UI: How did Flandria respond to the full-scale invasion? Did many of its members join the military?

OR: A significant number of club members joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of the invasion. Others became heavily involved in volunteer efforts. No one stood aside.

Unfortunately, some of them are no longer with us.

UI: You mentioned the shortage of personnel. There are still people who remain hesitant about joining the military. What would you say to them?

OR: I would not say they are necessarily uncertain. More often, they convince themselves that this is not their war and that it will not affect them personally.

People like that have existed in every conflict throughout history. There is always a reason, an excuse, or a justification. Today, one of the most common narratives revolves around claims of “illegal mobilization.”

What many fail to consider is the alternative.

And the alternative is the loss of the state itself. In that scenario, neither you nor even your government would be deciding the rules anymore.

If Russia were to prevail, the system imposed would be entirely different. Refusal would cease to be an option. Ukrainians occupy a special place in Russian historical and political thinking, and anyone with even a basic understanding of history should recognize that.

If a state shows little hesitation in sacrificing its own citizens, it is unlikely to show greater concern for those it considers outsiders. No one would be treated gently. People would simply be gathered up and sent wherever they were needed, regardless of their wishes.

UI: There seems to be a growing problem in public discourse: some people celebrate those fighting on the front lines as heroes, while others glorify those who evade military service. How do you address that?

OR: It is a serious problem. First and foremost, it is one of the outcomes of the enemy’s information influence operations, into which enormous resources are being invested.

In essence, Russia is trying to cultivate a “draft-dodger culture” in Ukraine. It promotes, romanticizes, and amplifies narratives that glorify avoiding military service.

You do not have to look very hard to notice that many of the accounts pushing these themes on social media are likely part of coordinated campaigns. The objective is to shape public attitudes and perceptions. In many ways, these methods resemble classic propaganda techniques that have been used throughout history.

If you look at the leaflets Nazi Germany dropped over Britain during the Second World War, the message was strikingly similar: “Don’t fight. Lay down your weapons, and everything will be fine.”

First, the Russians sought to turn personnel of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers into targets of public hostility. Then the focus expanded to include anyone in uniform. The next step is predictable: “Look, we are coming to liberate you from the oppression of the recruitment authorities.”

That is how propaganda works—it gradually reframes perceptions until a narrative that once seemed absurd begins to sound familiar.

UI: Unfortunately, many people do not recognize that.

OR: Because for them the war remains something distant and abstract. It is viewed primarily as an inconvenience or as a reason to avoid contact with recruitment authorities.

What often gets overlooked is the broader picture and the long-term consequences. Many people focus on the immediate discomfort while giving little thought to what the alternative outcomes of the war might ultimately mean for the country and for their own future.

UI: We know that some members of your company have returned after going AWOL. How are they treated within the battalion, and what opportunities do they have?

OR: When someone returns after going AWOL, there are really only two possibilities: they either get back to work and become the same servicemember as everyone else, or they leave again.

What matters to me is whether a person is willing to serve and contribute. In the company where I previously served, two soldiers returned after going AWOL, completed their training, and continued serving. To be honest, they were no different from anyone else afterward.

We have people returning even now. The important thing is that they came back. Nobody is forcing them to stay.

UI: So they are not stigmatized or labeled?

OR: No. Everyone has their own reasons for leaving. The key point is that they returned.

We are a high-tech battalion that continues to develop and grow despite difficult circumstances. Like any military unit, we face ongoing challenges, but we work through them. We have sufficient drone platforms and equipment to carry out our missions. Our primary issue—probably the same as for many units—is manpower.

That is why we encourage those interested in serving to consider joining the 22nd Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion “Kratos.” The military needs people with a wide range of skills and professional backgrounds. Within the units of the 18th Army Corps, there are positions suited to many different qualifications, experiences, and interests, allowing people to contribute in roles that match their abilities and strengths.

UI: What do you plan to do after Ukraine’s victory?

OR: I hope to return to my substations and go back to working with controllers and automation systems.

And, generally speaking, I would like to see as few people as possible. (laughs)

Artem Rudenko, Volodymyr Nikolaiets led this conversation

Photos via Oleksandr Radchuk