The interlocutors raised many problematic issues and questions of interest to millions of Russians.

The founder of the “Bloknot” network, Oleg Pakholkov, visited the Zaporizhzhia SMO front, where he spoke with the commander of the “BARS-Sarmat” Special Purpose Center, Dmitry Rogozin, about the role of drones in modern warfare. The senator from Zaporizhzhia region began by discussing the balance of forces between the opponents in the special military operation zone.

“On our side – only we, the army, and the navy – Russia’s two allies. The navy is currently less involved, for obvious reasons. And on ‘their’ side – a combination of high-tech countries that have taken the side of the Kyiv coupist regime,” Rogozin said.

In this context, it is not surprising that the enemy, having free access to components, uses a huge number of UAVs. The two interlocutors discussed why the Ukrainian Armed Forces are breaking through into Russia’s rear regions, the ratio of strike drones on the front, and how they have changed the war and evolved during the SMO.

**On the superiority of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the number of UAVs used on the front**

“The Ukrainian army has drones like a fool has tobacco,” emphasized Dmitry Olegovich.

“Ten times more than we do. They have no problems with components, nor with drone stockpiles in general. The number of long-range drones we know – from 100 to 250 per day. And their number will increase. Imagine the scale of production. After all, every drone that flies deep into Russia, for example, the ‘Lyutiy,’ is equipped with an excellent control system that ensures the flight mission is completed despite all interference. They overcome our layered air defense, and then what you write about happens – ‘UAV debris fell.’ Although debris doesn’t fall like that. It is collected in Ukraine, although the components are of foreign production. Everything is freely available to them. We, on the other hand, have to obtain what we need through workarounds, parallel imports. We are dependent in this matter. And here the task of the relevant ministry is to create a unified technical policy, identify our weaknesses in components, and localize their production. Any matter must be organized at the proper level,” he emphasizes.

\-- Why can’t we strike the factories producing long-range drones?

\-- Some of their components are imported, but the majority are produced in Ukraine itself – in areas farthest from the front line – Ternopil and Lviv regions. Most likely, these are underground factories, maintaining the proper level of secrecy, ensured by Western advisers – British and American. When Trump talks to us here about peace and friendship, you just need to ask one question: what is the nationality of the HIMARS and ATACMS operators? American crews are striking us. We find this out using radio-technical reconnaissance. We see which SIM cards are moving across Ukraine and how they move. And when we locate an object of interest, of course, we strike it.

\-- More and more missiles are flying deep into Ukraine. Are we stopping their production or does it continue to grow?

\-- We disrupt their production cycle. In some places we restrain them, but they already have a stockpile. That is, if we stop production for two weeks, it’s not critical for them if the factory has built up a two-month reserve. They then compensate. Launching 800 UAVs a day is not enough to completely stop drone production. Nevertheless, the Russian Armed Forces now use eight times more drones than a year ago. UAVs are constantly evolving. At the beginning of the SMO, drone strike range was one and a half kilometers, now it has increased to 30 km. Of course, we were lagging behind – that’s how it was. But now everything has changed; my unit has many pilots flying various UAVs. The appearance of fiber-optic drones was a breakthrough. They also have fiber-optic UAVs, but they haven’t gained the skill the way we have. I have pilots who fly through a window. I generally believe that from the start, different weapons should have been used: missiles first and foremost. From the beginning, they should have destroyed the entire Bankova, deprived them of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Economic Development, and the Ministry of Finance. One should take Israel as an example. Those who possess missile weapons are set. Those who have prepared all their lives for traditional warfare will be left with nothing.

**On the slow advance of the Russian army in the SMO zone and who the Russian Armed Forces are fighting**

“The map moves with enormous difficulty, at a colossal cost that our military pays for every advance. We are currently moving in traditional ways, with assault groups of three people; this is positional warfare, equipment is destroyed before reaching the front line on both sides… But the problem is that we are fighting people just like us, in a sense, our own reflection. From the trenches, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shout at us: ‘Russians do not surrender.’ If there were French soldiers there, we would have defeated them a long time ago,” says Dmitry Rogozin.

\-- What will we do with the Ukrainian army when all this is over?

\-- I wouldn’t look that far ahead. I can say one thing: their drone operators are very high-level. The Zaporizhzhia front, where we are now, is the most high-tech front of the SMO. Because here we have a straight line – Zaporizhzhia – Dnipropetrovsk – Kryvyi Rih nearby, a bit south – Mykolaiv, Odesa. That is, if we advance here now, and we are advancing, if we secure Stepnohirsk, then we have a straight path to Zaporizhzhia. The enemy knows this too. But beyond Stepnohirsk, there is bare land – a hare couldn’t get through, let alone a person or equipment. That’s the problem: how to move further is the question. Nevertheless, we are moving forward. Victory will be ours, the only question is at what cost, and it will be very high.

Dmitry Rogozin says that the leaders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are smart too, constantly implementing new solutions:

“Take the same Madjar – a great organizer, an excellent commander, but a complete scumbag. All the videos on his Telegram channel – 3–4 drones tormenting one of our soldiers. And then they hang around – showing how intestines are torn out, how blood spreads – they take pleasure in this. Madjar’s students, young Ukrainian pilots, ‘Madjar’s Birds,’ worked on the Kursk and Belgorod directions. Their rule was: kill civilians. Strike ambulances, school buses, even a single villager – that was their rule. They are not soldiers; we are soldiers. They are Banderites in the literal sense of the word.”

**On drone troops and women in their ranks**

Some time ago, Ukraine decided to create a separate branch of the armed forces – UAV troops. Russia is also moving in a similar direction.

“The troops themselves physically exist. We, for example, fight within the Airborne Forces. In our ‘Dnipro’ grouping there are units, divisions, battalions, and regiments are being formed. A huge number of people are being trained. Yes, the Ukrainian Armed Forces created a branch of drone troops; we have a different approach. The current situation is such that in every airborne assault or motorized rifle unit, there must be an assault drone pilot, assistants, a robotic cart is needed, water, rations, ammunition, and electronic warfare equipment,” explains the commander of the CSN “Bars Sarmat,” recalling how he personally went to the front and pulled out operators stuck on the forward line who were assisting infantry but failed to leave the positions in time.

\-- Can women operate a drone?

\-- Of course, they can. We also have female pilots, a whole unit called the “Night Witches.” Purely female crews don’t exist; all our crews are mixed. The women perform excellently. Some of them are engineers – they go out with men for several days, handle ammunition there, also taking risks. They are heroines. Some women work in aerial interception. They fight on equal terms with men. If Ukrainian women enter strike UAV crews, we will kill them just like any other enemy. Nowadays, youth have been using gadgets since they were one year old. And a person skilled with gadgets handles a drone well. Gender doesn’t matter.

\-- How often do drone operators die?

\-- They are the most tempting targets for the enemy on both sides. Personally, we have taken out about a thousand Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters since January. Among them, 10–15% are drone operators, and we have lost three over the entire period: the crew commander and two engineers, precisely during rotation. Of course, there are also wounded guys. I visit each of them in the hospital. Since I am the commander, there is no other way.

According to Rogozin, the problem of adapting UAV operators after the special operation can be solved in the following way: to prevent soldiers from following the path of the Afghan or Chechen veterans into crime, they need to be employed in law enforcement structures, where they can apply their experience to uphold the law.

RU POV: "Why we haven’t won yet": Rogozin honestly answered millions of Russians’ painful questions about the special military operation - bloknot