Maj. Robert \u201cMagyar\u201d Brovdi, one of Ukraine\u2019s most prominent commanders among a new generation of soldiers, said his forces could strike seven times more military targets in Crimea if the money pledged by Western allies came faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrimea falls within the key conceptual pillars on the path to ending the war,\u201d Brovdi told The Associated Press in an interview.<\/p>\n
Despite that shortfall, Ukraine\u2019s summer campaign in Crimea has already inflicted significant damage: striking rail bridges, oil depots<\/a> and power infrastructure to disrupt supply lines<\/a> and blind Russian air defenses as drones fly in.<\/p>\n Brovdi said his forces are equipped at just 14% of what they would need to carry out the Crimea campaign at full capacity.<\/p>\n A firm believer in numbers since his past life running an international grain trading business, Brovdi joined Ukraine\u2019s territorial defense as a volunteer in the war\u2019s opening days. He rose quickly, commanding one of the country\u2019s most effective drone brigades before being tapped to lead a force with no precedent before this war \u2014 Ukraine\u2019s Unmanned Systems Forces.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that the production capacity of Ukrainian manufacturers doesn\u2019t allow us to make the necessary quantities\u201d of drones, Brovdi said. \u201cIt\u2019s the banal problem of untimely financing, which our partners do allocate, but which moves significantly slower than our plans.\u201d<\/p>\n A lover of the arts<\/p>\n A devoted patron of the arts, Brovdi\u2019s underground command post resembles a museum, with pieces of Ukrainian art on display, including by renowned painter Maria Prymachenko \u2014 each with small placards noting their titles and a QR code linking to more information. \u201cPlease don\u2019t touch the sculpture,\u201d reads a sign beneath one piece.<\/p>\n The artwork sits against a backdrop of dozens of screens streaming live footage from the front, along with real-time data that drives decisions on the battlefield. Soldiers can grab good coffee, pick a book, work out or rest in sleeping pods \u2014 a culture that feels closer to a Silicon Valley office than a war room.<\/p>\n They work around the clock to try to prevent Crimea from functioning as a staging ground for the Russian military, said Brovdi, whose call sign, Magyar, nods to his ethnic Hungarian roots in Zakarpattia,<\/a> the western Ukrainian region bordering Hungary.<\/p>\n He pointed to one sign of progress \u2014 in four recent large-scale Russian missile barrages from the peninsula, only five missiles were launched in total, a drop he credited to the systematic destruction of Russian air defenses there. The AP couldn\u2019t independently verify the claim.<\/p>\n To open that \u201cwindow\u201d for drones to strike the peninsula without being shot down en masse, his forces destroyed more than 300 air defense assets over recent months \u2014 surface-to-air systems, radar stations, electronic warfare equipment.<\/p>\n The window metaphor sends him into a sidetrack about something personal \u2014 he loves sleeping with one open, a pleasure he rarely gets anymore as one of Russia\u2019s most hunted men, who spends most of his time in underground bunkers.<\/p>\n Ukrainian servicemen prepare a \u201cChaklun\u201d strike drone used for deep-strike operations against Russian positions in Crimea, in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dan Bashakov)\n<\/p>\n Maj. Robert \u201cMagyar\u201d Brovdi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dan Bashakov)\n<\/p>\n A Ukrainian serviceman prepares a \u201cChaklun\u201d strike drone used for deep-strike operations against Russian positions in Crimea, in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dan Bashakov)\n<\/p>\n A Ukrainian \u201cChaklun\u201d long-range strike drone takes off from a mobile launcher during an operational launch targeting Russian military installations in Crimea, from an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dan Bashakov)\n<\/p>\n Maj. Robert \u201cMagyar\u201d Brovdi stands in the control room during a long-range unmanned aerial vehicle operation targeting Russian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dan Bashakov)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 5<\/p>\n Ukrainian servicemen prepare a \u201cChaklun\u201d strike drone used for deep-strike operations against Russian positions in Crimea, in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dan Bashakov)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a> Much of Russia\u2019s Soviet-era air defense hardware runs on the power grid, which is one of the reasons Crimea\u2019s electrical infrastructure has become a recurring target. Russian soldiers become \u201cblind,\u201d left with just machine guns and rifles, he said. The tactic has also impacted access to power for civilians, and Brovdi said he has twice publicly apologized to Ukrainians living in Crimea for the disruptions.<\/p>\n Wherever Starlink connectivity reaches across Crimea, his forces can now destroy even the most heavily defended target using an average of just three drones, mixing munitions with different characteristics and warheads depending on what\u2019s being hit. He described the strikes as deliberately calibrated \u2014 different munitions for a bridge pier than for a fuel truck or a moving train \u2014 and said his forces avoid hitting civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cCreating conditions that make it impossible for any kind of military capability \u2026 to remain there will make Crimea uninteresting \u2026 as a military staging ground,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ukraine is also working to dismantle Crimea\u2019s role as a naval base \u2014 a blow to Russia\u2019s presence near NATO\u2019s borders, he added.<\/p>\n The campaign\u2019s early results have not been made public, Brovdi said. But roughly two weeks into the offensive that began in late June, he said Ukrainian intelligence indicated Russian authorities had ordered all military commands and security services to relocate off the peninsula, along with a covert order to remove secret archives and artworks. The AP could not independently verify the account.<\/p>\n Threats from Russia<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Russia is working to counter Ukraine\u2019s edge. It is installing jamming systems at a scale that will, to some degree, degrade Starlink connectivity, Brovdi said.<\/p>\n Russia is also building its own satellite<\/a> communications system to rival Starlink, he said. \u201cThis is a risk for the entire planet,\u201d Brovdi said, \u201cbecause a dictatorship will gain access to information across the whole globe.\u201d<\/p>\n He also pointed to other threats facing Ukraine. The concentration of jet-powered Shahed drones, which are much harder for Ukraine to shoot down, has increased two and a half times in recent weeks, he said.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s military can currently fire a simultaneous salvo of 77 ballistic and cruise missiles, he said, and plans to increase that to 200. That is one of Ukraine\u2019s most vulnerable points, since the country is running short of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot \u2014 the only system Ukraine has in its arsenal against ballistic missiles<\/a> \u2014 meaning dozens fired by Russia during mass barrages get through and hit their targets.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if they only manage half of that, it will all be flying at us,\u201d Brovdi said. The only way to bring the number down, he said, is by striking every facility involved in producing those missiles \u2014 underscoring the importance of Ukraine\u2019s long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory.<\/a><\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s plan for Russia\u2019s Wildberries<\/p>\n![\"Ukrainian](\"https:\/\/www.bostonherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Russia_Ukraine_War_Drone_Commander_87612.jpg?w=620\")
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\nForcing Russia out of Crimea<\/p>\n