'Pilots now hold the line': Ukrainian officer explains changing role of infantry

Pilots are holding the line

Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Tetiana Chornovol said that her remarks about drone infantry sound like something new only because society has not yet become accustomed to this reality.

According to her, the media and society are full of stories about soldiers who sit at observation posts, do not leave their positions for months, fight while surrounded, freeze in the cold, and cannot wait for evacuation even when wounded. But, she stressed, this is no longer infantry in the combat sense of the word.

"Pilots are now holding the line," Chornovol said.

According to her, when the enemy launches an attack, pilots stop them; when they retreat, the pilots pursue them; and when they show no activity, they destroy their shelters and logistics. Enemy sappers laying mines are also targeted with drones.

"Enormous work that was previously carried out by infantry to destroy the enemy is now being done by drone units," the officer noted.

Traditional infantry is becoming a thing of the past

Chornovol described traditional infantry as men over the age of 40 carrying assault rifles, most often from villages, who know how to survive in terrible conditions in dugouts.

According to her, such infantry "simply would not exist" if commanders at all levels, from platoon commanders to the corps level, were strictly required to preserve personnel and be accountable for every loss. In particular, they would have to explain whether each loss was justified and whether it could have been avoided.

Why the enemy maintains both types of infantry

Chornovol noted that the enemy has more manpower and is able to maintain both types of infantry. Because of this, she said, Ukrainian pilots have more targets to strike. But Ukraine should not do the same, she stressed.

The officer sees the main advantage of Ukrainians in this war as every person’s desire to survive. According to her, she sees "stupid acts of heroism" by Russian forces whose commanders send them to certain death.

Ukrainians, she said, look for "100 reasons" to carry out an order in another way. In her view, this trait should not be overcome but cultivated. Service members should be volunteers, and military service should be effective, not frightening.

At the Defense 2027 forum, Yurii Butusov, commander of the UAV company of the 23rd Assault Regiment of the 2nd National Guard Corps Khartiia, said that the personnel problem in the military had worsened because warfare had become a high-tech process. According to him, the army and every military unit have now become startups, and a "war of startups" is effectively underway at the front.

According to him, military units and formations are becoming centers of technological development and the development of human capital and expertise.

For assault operations in the Khartiia corps’ area, the 23rd Assault Regiment was established this year. Its specialization is exclusively assault and search-and-strike operations using UAVs.