Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) announced on June 20 the establishment of a new command group that will unite the branch with other top drone units in the country's military.
Drones have become one of the defining tools of the full-scale war, used extensively by both Ukraine and Russia for surveillance, long-range strikes, and tactical battlefield firepower.
The new formation will unite all military units of the USF with the Drone Line, a project launched by President Volodymyr Zelensky in February this year to coordinate and expand five of the country's strongest drone units.
The new command umbrella was created to "improve the efficiency of management, transform the Forces, and adapt to the requirements of modern warfare," according to the statement.
The units will operate within a single chain of command, with a defined structure and a common vision of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tactics in order to harmonize approaches, establish joint work, and use unmanned systems more effectively in combat, the USF said.
The Unmanned Systems Forces were created as a separate branch of Ukraine's military in June 2024.
At that time, Ukraine's strongest existing drone units served in other branches of the defense forces, including the Ground Forces, National Guard, and the Security Service of Ukraine.
The newly-created group will be led by Major Robert Brovdi, better known by his callsign Magyar, whom Zelensky appointed as the commander of the USF in early June.
Brovdi had previously served as commander of the eponymous Magyar's Birds Unmanned Systems Brigade, a founding member of the Drone Line initiative and one of the most consistently high-performing drone units in the Ukrainian military.
A world-first phenomenon, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces works to improve the country's drone operations, creating drone-specific units, ramping up training, increasing drone production, and advancing innovation.
The USF has also carried out hundreds of operations deep within Russian territory.
Following in Ukraine's footsteps, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of his country's own individual drone branch on June 12.
Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, previously deputy commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, was named the first commander of the USF on June 10, 2024.
Brovdi replaced Sukharevskyi, who was dismissed on June 3.
According to military personnel who spoke anonymously to Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne, Sukharevskyi's relationship with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi was tense from the beginning of the USF's formation.
Sukharevskyi's appointment was a decision by president Zelensky, not Syrskyi, sources said.
People close to both Syrskyi and Sukharevskyi also claimed the two men avoided face-to-face interactions.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
