President Vladimir Putin last week came out and said that Russia would tenfold the supply of drones to the Russian army. – Whoever reacts fastest to these demands on the battlefield wins, he claimed. Putin visiting a drone manufacturer in St. Petersburg earlier this month. Photo: Reuters – He’s just trying to scare us. What Putin says is mostly a lie, says Kate Leshchyshyn in frustration. She works in “Come back alive”, a voluntary organization in Ukraine. The organization was started in 2014, and uses donated funds to buy drones and equipment that they deliver to the front. Lesjtsjysjyn is visiting Oslo, and news meets her at a cafe on Youngstorget. Lesjtsjysjyn finds it strange to sit in peaceful Norway and talk about war. Photo: Alexander Slotten / news – We know that we need to multiply the production of drones in Ukraine as well. It will never be enough until the war is over, she says firmly. Leshchyshyn believes that if Ukraine loses the war, she will have to fight Norwegians and Poles in a few years. She fears that if Russia occupies all of Ukraine, they will force the Ukrainian people to fight in a future war against NATO. Leshchyshyn says that the areas occupied by Russia are being emptied of combative Ukrainians, who are sent straight into the war. Photo: Alexander Slotten / news Leschjysjyn believes that Russia will not give up if they win in Ukraine, and that NATO countries will be next. – They occupy Donetsk and Luhansk. Have they developed those regions? No. They just force the young people there to fight us, she says. – Can you imagine me fighting against Poland or Norway? It is absurd. How could I fight you? – But if we lose, then it can happen. The fear of this motivated her to quit as a sales manager in a large Ukrainian IT company barely a year ago, and get involved in the war full-time. Reason to be afraid Pavel Baev at Prio tells news that the Ukrainians have good reason to fear mobilization if they are occupied. The peace researcher explains that Putin is mobilizing the people in the occupied territories and sending them to war. Photo: PRIO / Julie Lunde Lillesæter – The mobilization of people in the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are occupied by Russia was very hard even before the start of the full-scale invasion, and became even harder in the months and years afterwards, says the peace researcher. – This recruitment pool is now largely exhausted. He explains that in the areas that will be occupied, anyone who receives a Russian passport will be subject to conscription and mobilization, regardless of whether the person in question has moved from the war zone. The Prio researcher does not believe that Putin will be left with enough soldiers to be able to attack NATO when the war is over. Photo: AFP But Baev believes that the war will eat up so much of Russian human capital that they will not be able to attack a NATO country when the war is over. – Therefore, extending support to Ukraine is actually the best way for the European states to ensure their own security, he says. Not enough for everyone The most effective way Leshchyshyn felt she could contribute to preventing a Russian victory was collecting drones and related equipment for the front lines in Ukraine. A Ukrainian soldier inspects the drones donated from “Come back alive.” Photo: Reuters Drones are now part of many aspects of the Ukrainian defense battle. – Drones can be used to lay landmines, remove landmines, deliver food, equipment or ammunition to the front. – Or dropping bombs? – Yes, obviously. We are sitting in a nice café in Oslo and talking about dropping bombs, it feels strange. But yes… Saving lives on the battlefield One of those who has benefited greatly from the drones donated from “Come back alive” is Oleksandr Stukalenko. He is commander of unmanned systems in the 126th brigade of Ukraine’s so-called Territorial Defense Forces and fights at the front in Ukraine. Oleksandr Stukalenko recommends that Norway learn from Ukraine. Photo: Private – The more combat operations without close contact we have, the more lives we save, he tells news. – For example, we now deliver humanitarian supplies to our positions on the islands with drones. Without the drones, we would have had to send people there, deliver the goods and return under fire, which is very dangerous, he says. According to Stukalenko, they also save many lives by using drones for intelligence instead of setting up a static observation post on the front line. A soldier shows off a drone donated by Come back alive. Photo: Come back alive – In this way we don’t lose people, but in the worst case a vehicle. Advice to Norway More and better drones give Ukraine major advantages against Russia, despite the fact that they are a larger country. This is something Stukalenko believes Norway should take note of. His advice to Norwegian politicians is as follows: – Norway should learn from Ukrainian experience from the battlefield by contacting our specialists. It is worth developing all types of drones. Both air-based drones, ground-based drones, surface drones and underwater drones. These FPV drones are among the drones donated to the “Come back alive” front. Photo: Reuters Stukalenko explains that it is important to develop local production in order not to be dependent on external procurement in the future, to have a steady supply, and to be ready to continuously modernize the drones. – Long supply chains literally kill you when you are at war, he warns. Shoots down surveillance drones “Come back alive” is financed by private donations, and is not state-sponsored. This year, the main goal is to use cheap combat drones to shoot down as many Russian surveillance drones as possible. – We don’t have enough funds to give drones to everyone, so we choose the best brigades, explains Leschjysjyn. – We have supplied 11 brigades now with combat drones and equipment, and the latest report I have seen says that they have now destroyed 103 Russian surveillance drones so far. A combat drone is sent out on a mission. Photo: Reuters She explains that these surveillance drones cost from 50,000 to 200,000 dollars per piece. Lightning fast development – We have a very, very short window of time in which this tactic will work. A few weeks at most. This is due to weather conditions and the fact that the Russians are already working on countermeasures, says Leschjyshyn. – This is an extremely fast-changing environment that both parties must continuously adapt to. Leschjysjyn believes there is no limit to how many drones are needed to win. Photo: Reuters Norway lags behind At home in Norway, we are struggling to keep up. The armed forces feel they are lagging behind in the drone race, and are shocked by how fast developments are on the battlefield in Ukraine. – We are quite blown away by how fast it is going, Sigurd Harsheim, the head of the specialist group for drones in the Army, told news. Harsheim in the Army believed that Norway is lagging behind on the drone front. Photo: Alexander Slotten / news It is now only a matter of weekly cycles from one thing working until the countermeasures are in place. – A completely obvious answer to what the Norwegian Armed Forces is asking for is Norwegian investments in Ukrainian drone technology in exchange for cooperation on that technology, says Rasmus Hansson in MDG. Hansson in MDG believes we must spend more of the money we have earned as a result of the war on Ukraine. Photo: Alexander Slotten / news – Then we will invest in the area where drone technological development is the fastest and most innovative. Hansson believes this is an obvious opportunity for cooperation with great benefits for both parties. – We increase the chance that they will not lose this terrible war, and we get a catapult behind our own drone venture. Want concrete proposals – In the dialogue with the government about support for Ukraine, the Conservative Party has raised the need to give money so that Ukraine can buy drones and other weapons directly from its own defense industry, says Hårek Elvenes in the Conservative Party. He is a representative of the Storting and a member of the Storting’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Elvenes believes that Norway can learn from the experiences from Ukraine. Photo: NTB – This is because they are far ahead in the technology development of drones, and they produce and innovate at a high pace. He is unsure whether it is appropriate to make demands for technology and experience in return at this time. – But the countries that support Ukraine have, on a general basis, an exchange of experience with the Ukrainians in several areas of military technological innovation. He believes that the experiences from the war in Ukraine regarding, among other things, the extensive use of drones must be important for the organization of the Norwegian defense in the coming years. An instructor in the Norwegian Armed Forces demonstrates a drone that they practice with at Rena camp. Photo: Alexander Slotten / news During the negotiations on the long-term plan for the Norwegian Armed Forces, the Conservative Party took the initiative to prepare and implement an overall drone strategy for the defense sector. Elvenes says that they want concrete proposals for how the various defense branches can adopt drone technology in line with technological development. Will invest in drones with the oil fund Hansson believes Norway should use the oil fund to support Ukraine. Rasmus Hansson believes that part of the oil fund should be used to build drone factories in Ukraine. Photo: Alexander Slotten / news Norway has profited well from the increases in the price of gas and oil after the outbreak of war, and Hansson believes that some of this profit should, for example, be invested in drone production in Ukraine. – We know we have earned 1,500 billion which we have put in the oil fund, just from increased gas prices, he points out. – What is the meaning of the oil fund? It is to secure our future. If Ukraine loses that war, then it is a greater threat to our future than very much else.
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Fears she will soon have to fight Norwegians and Poles – Direct
