Ukrainian military leaders stress it would be ‘nearly impossible' to fight Russia without drones
'We paid with lives to get this expertise,' Maj. Robert 'Magyar' Brovdi, the head of the Ukrainian military's new Unmanned Systems branch, said during a panel discussion at the Association of the US Army's meeting in Wiesbaden, Germany. 'But you can get this expertise out of us, and we will support you the same way you've supported us during this war.'
Brovdi spoke at the AUSA conference alongside Brig. Gen. Volodymyr Horbatiuk, the deputy chief of the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They repeatedly emphasized the importance of using drones in warfare. Horabiuk said it is 'nearly impossible' to conduct the majority of their warfighting functions without drones, listing off examples of their use including for logistics on the battlefield and intercepting aerial threats, as well as striking assets deep inside Russia — something the world watched in June when Ukraine conducted a large-scale drone attack on Russian airbases thousands of miles from the front lines.
Brovdi and Horbatiuk's comments come just two days after President Donald Trump vowed to send more air defenses to Ukraine, making a stark shift in his approach to the war as he has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid efforts to reach a peace agreement. They also came hours after Russia launched a barrage of hundreds of drones towards four key regions in Ukraine, hitting multiple cities including the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Asked Wednesday what the audience at the conference should know about fighting against the Russians, Horbatiuk answered bluntly, 'Don't trust Russia.' The packed ballroom, full of NATO military and civilian defense industry officials, broke into laughter and applause. 'Remember that any agreement with them doesn't cost even the paper.'
Brovdi elaborated further on Wednesday, telling CNN that putting faith in Putin is 'not respectful to yourself.'
Brovdi, who has a background in business, was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine in May this year. Speaking to CNN on Wednesday through a translator, he told the story of visiting a 'huge' NATO military base in Europe roughly a year ago and being asked by his hosts what he thought about the base and its defenses.
'I answered the following, that four of my battle crews standing only 10km away from this base can destroy it fully in 15 minutes, it would look like Pearl Harbor during the second World War,' Brovdi said through his translator.
According to an official release by the office of the president of Ukraine, Brovdi founded his drone reconnaissance team known as 'Magyar's Birds' in the spring of 2022, which has since grown to a full brigade. Brovdi told CNN on Wednesday that he began using drones because he and his troops, an infantry unit, were fired upon by tanks, artillery, 'and we [could] not see anything, who was trying to kill us.' They began using drones for reconnaissance, to see who was firing on their position, and then began buying drones used typically for sports and gaming.
'We understood we could put a bit of ammunition on board, and we can deliver it with it,' he said through his translator. 'And this is how it starts. It was 27 people, nowadays it's much more than 2,000.'
According to the release from the office of the president, Brovdi and his unit — 95% of which he said were civilians before the war began, including DJs and artists — had destroyed more than 5,000 enemy targets, and hit more than 10,000 more.
Brovdi told the audience at AUSA that this was only his second time leaving the country since the war began in 2022, and that he would be back on the battlefield by Thursday. He dryly quipped that 'Putin's propaganda named me as the most wanted enemy, so it [could] be the last time you see me, here.'
The two commanders thanked the countries present at the conference for their support of Ukraine and urged allies and partners to learn from Ukraine's efforts. Horbatiuk expressed 'from the bottom of [his] heart' the appreciation for support to Ukraine and dedication.
'I would like to ask you,' he said in a parting line, 'to be more decisive.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
12 minutes ago
- Associated Press
A half-million young Catholics invade Rome, awaiting Pope Leo XIV at Holy Year youth festival
ROME (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome's outskirts Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics. Leo will surely like what he sees: For the past week, bands of young Catholics from around the world have invaded the area around St. Peter's Square for their special Jubilee celebration, in this Holy Year in which 32 million people are expected to descend on Rome to participate in a centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. The young people have been traipsing through cobblestoned streets in color-coordinated t-shirts, praying the Rosary and singing hymns with guitars, bongo drums and tambourines shimmying alongside. Using their flags as tarps to shield them from the sun, they have taken over entire piazzas for Christian rock concerts and inspirational talks, and stood for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to 1,000 priests offering the sacrament in a dozen different languages. On Saturday, they began arriving at the Tor Vergata field on the eastern flank of Rome for the culmination of their Jubilee celebration — the encounter with Leo. After walking five kilometers (three miles) from the nearest subway station, they passed through security checks, picked up their boxed meals and set up camp, backpacks and sleeping bags at the ready and umbrellas planted to give them shade. Leo, who was elected in May as the first American pope, was flying in by helicopter Saturday evening to preside over the vigil and a question-and-answer session. He was then returning to the Vatican for the night and coming back for a popemobile romp and Mass on Sunday morning. A mini World Youth Day, 25 years later It all has the vibe of a World Youth Day, the Catholic Woodstock festival that St. John Paul II inaugurated and made famous in 2000 in Rome at the very same Tor Vergata field. Then, before an estimated 2 million people, John Paul told the young pilgrims they were the 'sentinels of the morning' at the dawn of the third millennium. Officials had initially expected 500,000 youngsters this weekend, but Leo hinted the number might reach 1 million. 'It's a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee,' said Chloe Jobbour, a 19-year-old Lebanese Catholic who was in Rome with a group of more than 200 young members of the Community of the Beatitudes, a France-based charismatic group. She said, for example, it had taken two hours to get dinner Friday night, as the KFC was overwhelmed by orders. The Salesian school that offered her group housing is an hour away by bus. But Jobbour, like many here this week, didn't mind the discomfort: It's all part of the experience. 'I don't expect it to be better than that. I expected it this way,' she said, as members of her group gathered on church steps near the Vatican to sing and pray before heading out to Tor Vergata. There was already one tragedy before the vigil began: The Vatican confirmed that an Egyptian 18-year-old, identified as Pascale Rafic, had died while on the pilgrimage. Leo met Saturday with the group she was traveling with and extended his condolences to her family. The weather has largely cooperated: While Italian civil protection crews had prepared for temperatures that could have reached 34C (93F) or higher this week, the mercury hasn't surpassed 30C (85F) and isn't expected to. Romans inconvenienced, but tolerant Those Romans who didn't flee the onslaught have been inconvenienced by the additional hordes on the city's notoriously insufficient public transport system. Residents are sharing social media posts of outbursts by Romans angered by kids flooding subway platforms and crowding bus stops that have complicated their commutes to work. But other Romans have welcomed the enthusiasm the youngsters have brought. Premier Giorgia Meloni offered a video welcome, marveling at the 'extraordinary festival of faith, joy and hope' that the young people had brought to the Eternal City. 'I think it's marvelous,' said Rome hairdresser Rina Verdone, who lives near the Tor Vergata field and woke up Saturday to find a gaggle of police congregating outside her home as part of the massive, 4,000-strong operation mounted to keep the peace. 'You think the faith, the religion is in difficulty, but this is proof that it's not so.' Verdone had already made plans to take an alternate route home Saturday afternoon, that would require an extra kilometer (half-mile) walk, because she feared the 'invasion' of kids in her neighborhood would disrupt her usual bus route. But she said she was more than happy to make the sacrifice. 'You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion,' she said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
5 questions Trump faces after dismal jobs report; BLS commissioner firing
President Trump's economic pitch took a serious hit Friday after the latest federal jobs report revealed stunning weakness in the labor market. He responded by firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for what he called politically motivated revisions that lobbed off hundreds of thousands of job gains earlier this summer. The dismal jobs report raised serious questions about the strength of the U.S. economy, especially in light of looming tariffs causing anxieties in the global market. Here are the five big questions facing Trump as he faces the fallout. How much worse does it get? After months of warnings from economists and weakening data from the private sector, federal jobs numbers have caught up to the concern. The July jobs report dramatically changed the picture of the U.S. economy, ramping up concerns fueled by Trump's tariffs and the uncertainty they unleashed. The U.S. added only 73,000 jobs in July and just 106,000 jobs since May — a three-month total barely enough to sustain the labor market for one month. 'Not only was this a much weaker than forecast payrolls number, the monster downward revisions to the past two months inflicts a major blow to the picture of labor market robustness,' Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, wrote in an analysis. 'More concerning is that with the negative impact of tariffs only just starting to be felt, the coming months are likely to see even clearer evidence of a labor market slowdown.' The U.S. economy needs to add 80,000 to 100,000 jobs each month just to replace those who leave the workforce for retirement or incapacity. Without a significant turnaround, the unemployment rate could begin to rise, and the overall economy could slow drastically. 'The U.S. slowdown is starting to take shape,' Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, global co-chief investment officer at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, wrote in a Friday analysis. She added that a decline in labor force participation, which is also bad for the job market, was keeping the unemployment rate from rising further. 'While overall levels are not flashing red, the trend is cause for concern,' she wrote. How does Trump adjust his tariff plans? Trump and top White House officials spent months laughing off the dire projections of economists, who feared his tariffs would tank the job market and boost inflation. That position may not be tenable after Friday. The July jobs report came out on what was supposed to be the final deadline for the imposition of Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs. After insisting for weeks that he would not delay the deadline further, Trump announced Thursday evening that some countries would have an additional week to strike deals with the U.S. Trump's latest punt — which happened after the president is typically briefed on the jobs report — was the latest in a series of delays issued amid rough economic news or stock market turmoil. The president proposed much steeper tariffs during his 'Liberation Day' announcement in April, but he delayed and weakened his plan after two weeks of turmoil in financial markets. Trump and top White House economic aides touted the benefit of federal revenue from import taxes, which are paid by the U.S. businesses and individuals who purchase foreign goods. But the growing pressure of his tariffs could prompt further delays from Trump. Trump could also keep higher headline tariff rates while quietly making exemptions for key goods, undermining the overall goal of his import taxes while potentially avoiding some of the costs. 'A web of exemptions and, in the case of the deals, preferential rates means many key imports face lower tariffs or none. That significantly lowers the actual tariff rate, in many cases well below the quoted headline rate,' Michael Pearce, deputy chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a Friday analysis. How does the Fed respond? The stunning July jobs numbers will boost pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its next policy meeting in September and are raising questions about whether it should have cut rates already. The Fed kept rates steady Wednesday as inflation continued to rise and the labor market appeared to be weakening at a much slower rate than seen in Friday's jobs report. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Wednesday the risks that the job market could weaken quicker than expected under the bank's moderately high interest rates, he said he and his colleagues were still unsettled about how Trump's tariffs could drive inflation higher. The Fed now appears to be in a quagmire with the country on track for both a weaker economy and higher inflation — a dynamic known as 'stagflation.' Lower interest rates could stimulate the sluggish labor market but also drive inflation higher with additional money in the economy. Keeping interest rates unchanged could stave off inflation but suffocate the economy into higher unemployment and slower spending. 'With persistent policy uncertainty, tariffs, and diminished immigration flows paralyzing employers, the U.S. economy is now flirting with job losses, revealing a labor market that is much weaker than most Fed policymakers had believed,' Gregory Daco, chief economist EY-Parthenon, wrote in a Friday analysis. 'The Fed is now behind the curve.' Will voters ding Trump as job approval sinks? Trump is largely fulfilling his campaign promises on the economy, including instituting tariffs, though that policy proved to be much more widespread than what he suggested while running for a second term. He's also making good on mass deportation plans, which the administration is using to sell what they see as a stronger economy for the American worker. But some slices of voters don't appear to be singing Trump's praises. Trump headed into the big week on the economy with his job approval rating slipping, with net approval dropping 15 points, according to an Economist/YouGov poll. And his net approval rating also fell 9 points to its lowest rating yet last week in the Decision Desk HQ average, with independents taking issue with Trump's actions on the economy and immigration. Consumer confidence ticked up only slightly in July, a sign that anxieties over the economy could be coming to a head as a result of the president's policies. Consumers also expressed more negative assessments of their economic situations overall. What impact will firing the BLS commissioner have? Experts and economists were left reeling Friday afternoon when Trump announced he was firing the Commissioner of Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer. That cast doubt on the bureau's reporting standards and the type of revisions it makes on previously released reports. When Trump was later asked if that decision meant anyone providing him data he doesn't agree with could risk losing their job, he responded: 'I've always had a problem with these numbers.' In considering who could be McEntarfer's long-term replacement, Trump did not pinpoint experience in labor statistics as a qualification. 'We need people we can trust,' Trump said. 'I put somebody in who's going to be honest.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's latest trade salvo revealed a new approach to setting his tariffs: tiers
President Trump is moving forward on a new suite of tariff rates with an approach increasingly focused on grouping countries into tiers, as opposed to a previous approach of simply looking at the trade balance. The new approach remains heavily influenced by either a trade surplus or a deficit but has grown more complex — some might say more subjective — leading to some consolidation in rate levels and the lowering of rates for many countries to a key new standard of 15%. The new landscape was reflected in Thursday night's executive action announcing rates, which centered around the 15% rate set to be in place next week in about 40 countries. Countries facing that rate include major trading partners that recently struck deals, such as Europe and Japan, as well as smaller nations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. More than 100 countries were excluded altogether from this week's announcement, meaning their rate will stay at 10%. Meanwhile, a third group of about 30 countries will see higher rates ranging from 18% to 50%. Trump and his team are taking an approach that could simplify future negotiations and be more in line with global trade dynamics. Recent months have seen America's trading partners focused on their potential rate and how they stack up with direct competitors in nearly equal measure. A White House official confirmed the tiered approach to Yahoo Finance on Friday, suggesting that the 10% rate is largely but not exclusively reserved for countries with a trade surplus, the 15% rate is for those with a deal or a "small deficit," and that higher "bespoke" rates are further up the chain. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Those 'bespoke' rates Those countries facing rates above 15% offer a wider array, but even some clear tiers are there. Ten nations with a 19%-20% rate all have one thing in common: a location in South or Southeast Asia. These are trading partners often in focus for their role in China's orbit and the target of Trump's keen focus on issues like transshipping. Prior deals with Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines put those nations in that rate range, with other nations, from Thailand to Taiwan, now set to join them. India is now an outlier in the region, facing a 25% rate as trade talks there have grown contentious but continue. Thursday's order focused on the transshipping issues. Trump threatened an extra 40% tariff on any product deemed "to have been transshipped to evade applicable duties," without providing a further definition on what would meet that standard. In addition to India, five countries, including Mexico, face 25% tariff rates at least for the next 90 days. Even more punitive tariffs include 30% rates on nations like South Africa, 35% on Canada, 39% on Switzerland, and 50% on Brazil to top it off. A more complex formula this time around The White House official said the rates were determined using an array of factors, such as the trade deficit, existing non-tariff barriers, and how talks are going. They noted, for example, that Switzerland is a wealthy country more able to absorb tariffs. That contributed to the 39% rate applied by Trump, which shocked officials there and led to a scramble Friday. That account of how things were decided tracks with how the president himself described his approach in recent weeks. He told reporters he was considering a range of factors when setting rates, from hard numbers like the trade deficit to his own instincts. The contrast is notable when compared with early April, when Trump's team came up with his "reciprocal" tariff formula much more simply. Trump's trade representative at the time acknowledged that those rates were set using a calculation that, once parts that cancel each other out were removed, determined a rate based only on any given country's trade surplus with the US. Meanwhile, other details of this week's rollout — most notably a seven-day delay on tariffs going into effect — mean things could continue to change in the days and weeks ahead. As Capital Economics put it in a note Friday, "this is unlikely to be the final word," noting the chances for new deals and the legal challenges — with some importers looking to strike down these tariffs — could continue to change rates. For his part, Trump told NBC News on Thursday evening that he views his tariff rollout as going "very smooth," adding that it's "too late" for other countries to avoid the rates now set to take effect in seven days but that he's always willing to negotiate. "It doesn't mean that somebody doesn't come along in four weeks and say we can make some kind of a deal," he said. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
