(KYIV) – A senior Ukrainian drone commander has issued a stark warning that NATO member states are fundamentally unprepared for the scale and intensity of modern drone warfare, as demonstrated daily on the battlefields of Ukraine.
In an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Robert Brovdi, known by the callsign “Madyar” and commander of the “Ptakha Magyar” unit, stated that no army in the world is currently equipped to handle the sustained barrage of over 300 loitering munitions per day that Ukraine faces. He argued that conventional air defence systems are an economic impossibility against such threats.
“The countries of NATO are not ready for drone warfare. Full stop,” Brovdi said. “No economy in the world can withstand using traditional anti-aircraft and anti-Shahed means against this.”
He stated that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin understands the effectiveness of this cheap weapon and the lack of a firm, unified position within the NATO alliance. Brovdi warned that Putin’s ambitions to reassemble the former Soviet Union should not be underestimated, specifically pointing to the vulnerability of the Baltic states.
“Kyiv in three days will never happen again. But whether the Baltics will not fall in three days, I am not sure,” he said.
Brovdi provided three key assessments of the current security situation. He claimed drones are the “plague of the third millennium” and warned that partner nations are dangerously overestimating their own readiness to absorb the technological pressure currently being withstood by Ukraine. He asserted that regardless of any potential geopolitical agreements, the Kremlin’s war machine will not be halted and continues to scale up personnel, weaponry, and technology.
Brovdi detailed that his unit has already delivered a list of urgent recommendations to the political and military leadership of NATO, outlining necessary steps to prevent a successful attack on their territories, to be implemented within 3, 6, and 12 months. “We need to act, there is no time,” he stressed.
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Brovdi highlighted the imminent threat of full mobilisation by the Russian dictator following the staged elections on 20th September 2026. He predicted this would lead to a significant influx of enemy manpower on the front lines, disrupting the current balance of losses.
He also called for the activation of Starlink satellite coverage over parts of Russian territory, a move he described as a crucial, free, though highly political, step to enable Ukrainian forces to target known missile and drone launch sites. Brovdi claimed that Ukrainian forces know the locations of all enemy launch zones, from Rostov and Taganrog to Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts, and could neutralise them within weeks if given the necessary access.
Brovdi explained that 95 percent of all battlefield engagements now occur at the tactical level using drones, which have effectively replaced artillery, aviation, and armoured vehicles in many roles. He noted that by December 2025, Ukraine had achieved a parity where the number of enemy personnel being contracted equalled the number being destroyed, a balance he credits to the use of drones.
He also discussed strategic-level operations, noting that while they constitute only five percent of strikes, as of August 2026, there is no place in European Russia that the enemy can consider a safe rear area. He identified three priority target sets: sources of war financing, weapons production facilities, and logistical hubs.
The commander concluded with a direct warning that the era where Russian wars do not affect ordinary citizens is over, a direct result of Ukraine’s capability to bring the war home to the aggressor.
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