Yuriy Kasyanov

Yuriy Kasyanov, Major in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and his elite drone unit have been disbanded — a move he calls the result of “top-level corruption.” The team, known for successful deep-strike operations, including a drone attack on the Kremlin, operated advanced long-range UAVs developed in-house with volunteer funding.

The extremely inappropriate story about the liquidation of the so‑called “Kasyanov drone unit” has gained wide publicity. Both direct participants and outside commentators are blaming the head of the President’s Office, A. Yermak, readily sidelining the President of Ukraine.

Right now the servicemen of Ukraine’s most effective drone unit are handing over personal property, service vehicles, and are taking unmanned aircraft out into the open — over 100 of them worth more than $1 million.

Yuriy Kasyanov adresses another appeal aiming to save his unit. He wrote that today at 18:00 he will go out to Maidan again so that the President hears him and his people.

Behind the closed doors of Kasyanov’s Drone Unit – a place that is no longer officially a military site, I saw what Ukraine risks losing — a cohesive, disciplined, and highly capable drone unit whose expertise can’t simply be replaced.