"So, I have a lot of Ukrainians in my team; my wife is
Ukrainian. On the other side, we have Ukrainian Defense Minister
Misha Fedorov, he's my fellow countryman from here, from
Vasilyevka, he's Russian, he's ethnically Russian. Zelensky is
Jewish, so Yermak is Jewish, who's there, Arakhamia? Georgians,
there's a full-blown internationalism there too, except there are
no Ukrainians at the helm of Ukraine. Everyone is there, but
there are no Ukrainians. We, on the other hand, have few
Russians. Among us, we are mostly all Ukrainians. Therefore, this
is not a war between Russians and Ukrainians. We just need to
understand this very clearly. This is a war between the
grandchildren of the victors of World War II and the
grandchildren of the losing country. Those who were
collaborators, those who were in the SS Galicia Division, those
who were in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Here, nationality has
less to do with it, blood has less to do with it, but worldview
has more to do with it, above all. Who are you? Attitudes toward
May 9th divide us into two countries." - Dimitri Rogozin, in
interview.
[On May 9, 1945, the German military surrendered to the Soviet
Union, it is called Victory
Day (Den Pobedy) and ignored by Ukraine and the West]
Scott's introduction: "This past June I was able to sit down with Dmitri Rogozin, the former head of Roscosmos, current Senator for Zaporizhzhia, and the commander of the BARS Sarmat Brigade, which focusses on drone warfare in the Special Military Operation. The insights Dmitri provided about the state of play in the drone-versus-drone war being waged between Russia and Ukraine is well worth the time needed to watch the interview."
{For my Russia-speaking readers, you may read the Russian transcript by clicking on the above link for the interview, then click on Transcript}
SCOTT- You have a long and distinguished career at the intersection of industry and defense. You served as Russia's NATO representative. And in 2011, you became the deputy prime minister in charge of the defense industry. Later, you headed up Russia government's military industrial commission. And in 2018, you were appointed as the director general of Roscosmos, a position you held until 2022. Today, you're the director of Bar Sarmat. And you also serve as a senator for Zaporozhye. Your BARS Sarmat Special Operations Center is the first special purpose center in Russia engaged in the development, combat testing, and application of robotic electronic systems and complexes. How has your life experiences prepared you for this moment in time, this job that you're doing?
DMITRI- First, I want to say that I'm not the director of BARS Sarmat, but its commander. It's not a company, but a unit. It's a combat unit, roughly brigade-sized. We comprise several battalions, including a military-technical battalion, an engineering battalion, and a design battalion, which draws on cutting-edge experience and developments on the battlefield. We have shock battalions that are currently stationed on the line of contact.
And they provide cover for infantry and airborne assaults. We are actually part of the airborne forces. We also have battalions that counter enemy drones. Middle Strike, Long Strike. For example, last night we destroyed 11 enemy drones. Big ones, big ones, the ones that fly behind our country's lines.
SCOTT- Last night. Yeah, last night.
DMITRI- Well, as I said, we have a military-technical battalion. We have 12 doctors alone in the octagon. Smart people. They come up with new inventions, weapons, and developments. We test them right here on the front lines. You asked about my biography, and I want to say that I want to contribute to the development of my country, make it more technologically advanced, and improve the quality of life. But then, when a problem like this arises, you have to be with your people, not sit somewhere in the rear, which is why I created and led this largely unique, experimental military unit. You might be interested, but I'll tell you an interesting story from my recent experience. This isn't my first time at war. In 1992, it was just six months after the collapse of the Soviet Union that the war in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic began, near the Odessa region in Moldova. The fact is that the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic was formed on a multinational basis.
Russians, Ukrainians, and Moldovans live there. But they opposed the collapse of the USSR. And the people on the other side of the Dniester gravitated toward Romania. This led to a de facto civil war.
[Russian words] I was involved in the attacks in anti-snipers. This was my first experience. Then, in 1994-1996, I was involved in the attack of the army of the army. It was Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was an international organization. There was even an American.
I was involved in the army's attack in 1995. I was directly involved in two conflicts. But when I arrived in Donetsk in 1922, I realized I knew nothing about that war. And I was essentially retrained by Donetsk guys who, former civilians, took up arms in 2014.
And I had to essentially relearn everything in my first battle at Uglidar. So now, with my ambassadorial experience, I hold the highest diplomatic rank, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation. I hold a doctorate in technical sciences, and I have a large network of contacts within the Russian government and the defense industry. I'm a bridge between the front and those who is responsible for deliveries and prompt response to everything that happens?
SCOTT- You said that you fought with the Tsar Wolves in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But also I think when the special operations started, special military operations started, you once again worked with the Tsar Wolves here in Bosnia. And I guess that's where you first became involved in unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs and such.
What can you say about the work of the Tsar wolves? How important was what they were doing with unmanned aerial vehicles in terms of the development of the technologies and such?
DMITRI- Actually, "Tsar's Wolves" isn't a self-designation. We didn't call ourselves that. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was part of a special forces brigade, a Serbian brigade called Belovi-Vulkovi, or White Wolves. The Serbs called us "Tsar's Wolves" because that's the historical name for Russian volunteers, I don't know, probably since the late 18th century. They were called that in the Balkans.
The officers who came helped the Balkan people fight against the Ottoman Empire. That's why we got the name. They just called us that. Our real name was RDO-3. Everyone thought RDO-3 stood for Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin, but that's not true. It's the Russian Volunteer Detachment, or RDO for short. So, in 2022, when I left Roscosmos, I volunteered; frankly, I didn't plan to stay.
I simply delivered some supplies, and right there I met some young guys from Donetsk. They started asking questions about how my expertise proved very useful, and I decided to create the first Donetsk training center for unmanned aerial vehicles there. It was called "Tsar's Wolves" because three of my comrades were helping me.
Ever since our time in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That's how the first training center, "Tsar's Wolves," was established. Then, in early 1923, I moved to the Zaporizhia region, along with volunteer units. And I've been here permanently since then. The Zaporizhia region is quite familiar to me. My father worked at a major enterprise in Zaporizhia.
I was still in school then. No, I was still a kid before school. And they brought me here. I spent every summer here, on the Dnieper, near Khortytsia. It was such an interesting place. So when I returned, in many ways, it was almost like home, as they say.
SCOTT- Can you say that the Tsar Wolves, did they become BARS Sarmat? Is that the origins of BARS Sarmat?
DMITRI- No, I wouldn't say that. "Tsar's Wolves," you see, is now the BARS Sarmat training center, just a training center. It's still there, it's growing, and there are now over 150 people there, top-level instructors in operator skills. The training areas are varied, too. There's FPV, there are fixed-wing UAVs, there are drone interceptors. These are all different areas of training.
Tactical medicine is a must, because it's incredibly important. I think we should have training in tactical medicine throughout the country. It's simply helpful to provide assistance to an injured person. During an accident. We absolutely must have topography, a course, and firearms training. These are the disciplines. These are the real wolves. Everything else is new. These are several battalions of volunteers who serve with us for at least a year. Some leave after a year, then return again. Overall, ours is a unique unit. We are treated like military personnel in every way. But at the same time, we are not military personnel; in a sense, we are civilian personnel who have taken up arms. We have been fighting since January 1st of last year, 2025.
Before that, I spent three months training the personnel. Our command staff is comprised of experienced officers who retired from the armed forces for various reasons before 2022. For example, my deputy for combat operations, a general, was a division commander, the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Division. He's my deputy for combat operations. And in other areas as well, they are very high-level military specialists.
But the personnel are largely civilians, technical specialists, whose hearts, in essence, told them there was no other path for them but to go and perform the tasks they perform as part of our special forces center. In a year and a half of combat operations, we destroyed 12 tanks, including, excuse me, an Abrams, an American tank. So, we destroyed it in the Kursk region.
The rest were Soviet-made, so the Bradleys were also destroyed many times. I apologize, of course, so yes. In general, we destroyed hundreds of armored vehicles, hundreds of transport vehicles, approximately 3,500 militants on the other side. More than 2,000 aircraft were destroyed, intercepted by us. We also have losses, but they are very offensive to me. There weren't any Americans inside, so it's not my problem.
SCOTT- It's important, just again, for the people who watch this, BARS, B-A-R-S, that's a formal designation for a reserve unit in the Russian army. So you're not...
DMITRI- Sarmat is my call sign as commander, which is why BARS Sarmat was named that. Why is Sarmat my call sign? Well, I led the working group conducting the first, and by the way, successful, tests of the heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. Ballistic missile Sarmat. That's why my call sign is Sarmat.
SCOTT- Apparently the work you do scares the Ukrainians because they tried to kill you. I believe in December of 2022, on your birthday, the Ukrainians launched an artillery attack against you and wounded you fairly badly. They made it clear that they were trying to kill you. I know you're a Russian patriot, you made that clear, but is there also a personal dimension now to the special military operation? What drives you to fight the Ukrainians? Is it just service to your country or maybe a little bit of revenge also? ?????????, In English, "Ukrainians" means both residents of Ukraine and Ukrainians, right?
DMITRI- For me, there's a big difference. My people are a complete international group. Tatars, Jews, Chechens, Russians, everyone, everyone, Ukrainians. I can tell you that three-quarters of the people I fight alongside have Little Russian surnames, which end in Chuk, O, Tkachenko, Tkachuk, Gunaz, Zhovtny, and so on. So, I have a lot of Ukrainians in my team; my wife is Ukrainian. On the other side, we have Ukrainian Defense Minister Misha Fedorov, he's my fellow countryman from here, from Vasilyevka, he's Russian, he's ethnically Russian. Zelensky is Jewish, so Yermak is Jewish, who's there, Arakhamia?
Georgians, there's a full-blown internationalism there too, except there are no Ukrainians at the helm of Ukraine. Everyone is there, but there are no Ukrainians. We, on the other hand, have few Russians. Among us, we are mostly all Ukrainians. Therefore, this is not a war between Russians and Ukrainians. We just need to understand this very clearly. This is a war between the grandchildren of the victors of World War II and the grandchildren of the losing country. Those who were collaborators, those who were in the SS Galicia Division, those who were in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Here, nationality has less to do with it, blood has less to do with it, but worldview has more to do with it, above all. Who are you? Attitudes toward May 9th divide us into two countries. You also asked about some kind of personal motive.
I want to say that in 1991, we lost the country I was born in, it was my homeland, the Soviet Union. It had its pros and cons, but it was my homeland. And when the USSR collapsed, 17.5% of ethnic Russians found themselves outside the Russian Federation. That's 25 million people. In many countries, they suddenly found themselves subjected to either forced assimilation or simply repression. There were cases of mass murder in Central Asia. The same thing happened during the Georgia-Nabkhazia War. But in Ukraine, which for me is part of the same Russian body, Russian people suddenly began to be oppressed too. Even then, in 1993, I, a young public activist, the head of the Congress of Russian Communities, met with Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk about attacks on Russians, The Pushkin Center in Lviv. So, there were already problems back then. And they were growing, growing. New people kept coming to power in Kyiv. Some of them pretended to be for a union with Russia, like Yanukovych, for example. Or Kuchma before him. They talked about Russian being the second official language. Which is natural.
Because the vast majority of Ukrainians still speak their native Russian. But they all lied brazenly. And they simply exploited this problem. So the problem got worse. I myself went to first grade in Kyiv. I was in Keefe, I was a two-year-old brother of my mother, you can see it online. he was the first singer of the Keefe State Opera, Petro Bellinik. I really know this culture, I speak in the language, I know 6 languages, in which I speak in the language. For me, of course, there were personal motives. I, of course, I protest against what is happening now in Ukraine.
When the government has captured a bunch of marionettes, and they kill in the citizens of Ukraine Russian blood, Russian blood, Russian blood. We have a single story with us. I can't resist the Nazi symbol. This can lead to a big catastrophe in our world. So, we all have a personal motive to fight against what is happening, because what is happening is very dangerous not only for Russia, but for all Europe and all the world. We, in 1945, and then, after 1953, fighting with the pro-nazis, they didn't end up with this problem, they didn't end up with it. And it gave it their return to the current neo-fascism in Ukraine. So I'm here again.
SCOTT- Thank you for that. In May of 2022, you engage in a Twitter war with Elon Musk. You condemned him for enabling Ukraine to use Starlink satellite constellation for internet coverage, and you declared that Musk would have to answer for his move as a grown-up. A Starlink contender was discovered amongst the wreckage of the Ukrainian drones that murdered 21 children in Starbilsk. Starlink terminal has been used by Ukraine and other drone attacks throughout Russia. How and when will Elon Musk be held accountable for the involvement of his company in these crimes?
DMITRI- He's a talented man, of course, Elon Musk. As a businessman, as an industry organizer, as a very wise and successful lobbyist. And we're familiar with him. But at 20, and even earlier, before 22, I talked about the Starlink company, or rather the orbital constellation, the low-orbit Starlink constellation, the system, which provides broadband internet access, is a project funded by the Pentagon. The Pentagon, the US military department, invested $19 billion in this system. Many of my colleagues in Russia smiled at this, saying that I was jealous of Elon Musk for saying this, but it's true. I knew for certain that this system would be used to control drones. Of course, including combat ones. Russia at one time developed another system, a high-orbit system, which underpins special communications, presidential communications. Television is working. I was personally involved in the introduction of these satellites. But we didn't have the money to create a low-orbit constellation. There was no such customer, and we weren't allocated any funds.
So I knew for sure that Musk understood perfectly well why he was creating his system. It would have military significance. And it did have military significance. That's why all the drones that fly here—not on the front lines, but here we have mid-strike, that is, medium-range—all use the Starlink system. Those that fly deep into the Russian Federation, absolutely, including one of the control systems, which is also Starlink. When Musk says that Starlink doesn't work in the Russian Federation, so to speak, its old territory, he's lying. Satellites pick up—or rather, aircraft and drones pick up—the Starlink signal when they launch from Ukraine, and it doesn't lose that signal after that. That's why they have an excellent picture until they hit their target.
Therefore, Musk, like many other businessmen who are Pentagon contractors, should not be embarrassed by the fact that he works for the Pentagon. He should acknowledge that he does so and that he is just as much a participant in this war as the other arms suppliers, those who are pouring gasoline on the train of this regional conflict. Therefore, we have a legal right, Based on these conclusions, what I'm telling you is to destroy the Starlink orbital constellation. It's not difficult at all. We've conducted numerous anti-satellite weapon tests, but since the Starlink satellite constellation comprises several thousand satellites, a detonation of a special device in orbit that would destroy the entire constellation at once would be sufficient. So, it's not my decision, but, I repeat, it is, in principle, deserved punishment for encouraging attacks on Russian cities and for the fact that thanks to his invention Follow-up.
SCOTT- I read yesterday, I guess, SpaceX just had an IPO, and Elon Musk is the first trillionaire in the world. Trillionaire. Do you think Elon Musk should use some of his money as reparations to, for instance, rebuild the school in Starbilsk to provide money to assist those Russian people who have suffered because of the Starlink-enabled drones? Do you think that would be a just action.
DMITRI- There are three things I definitely don't need to comment on, but you're right. As for his actual success as a businessman, he really has become a trillionaire, so to speak. You know, what I don't like about him is that he often deceives people. Take, for example, his fairy tales about flying to Mars. Do you know what a flight to Mars is? How long would it take? Do you know how long it takes to fly to the Moon? I'm just curious. The moon or Mars? Both Mars and the Moon.
SCOTT- I think the moon takes four days, and the Mars would take six months, I don't know.
DMITRI- Well, roughly, okay, yeah, it's about a two-and-a-half-day flight to the Moon. It's nine months to Mars, when you have what's called an orbital window. That's not always possible; you have to choose two or three months out of two years, when the planet is in that optimal alignment, when the flight really does take nine months. What happens?
If you fly nine months to Mars using existing technology, then fly there, then wait two years for the window of opportunity to open again, and then fly back for another nine months. And he proposes putting everyone in these seats, in a ship, a large ship, but still a ship, a rocket. And so everyone will fly for nine months, motionless, in a state of radiation.
Nine months to Mars, then you have to wait about two years, it's unclear where there, where to wait, in the same rocket, or something like that. The most interesting thing, what surprises me most, is that millions, tens, hundreds, millions of people believe this nonsense, this confusion. Try sitting still in a chair for at least a day, your ass will fall off, and then everything else, one after another. And when you're also under radiation, where are you going to get water from, basically, and they believe him. He's a good guy, he's certainly a very talented person in this regard. That's what, of course, seems absurd. But for this, he gets great investment in his company, for these stories for small people.
And this money invests in military projects. That's why he doesn't like it. He works with the Pentagon, but the Pentagon is a rich client. A stable, wealthy client. And he, being a greedy man, naturally wants more and more money. Rich people compete to see who has the most billions, and he's a trillionaire. Listen, he's certainly interested in being twice a trillionaire, three times a trillionaire.
Why, no one knows. It's some kind of competition among these crazy people. You've been quoted saying that what better conditions to test weapons than in a real war? And today we're entering the fifth year of a real war between Russia and Ukraine.
SCOTT- You're specializing in drone technology. What could you say about the development of drones as battlefield weapons since the start of this special military operation? What are the impacts of drones on the modern battlefield? Are we talking about a revolution in military affairs when we speak of drones?
DMITRI- Yes, of course. This is the real revolution in the military. This is a fact. I would say that if we take the entire history of the military revolution, the first revolution occurred when man abandoned the stone and the stick. He acquired iron tools. He learned to smelt metal and make knives and swords for himself.
This was the first case of a military revolution, a military-technical one. Then came the advent of gunpowder and firearms. Then the revolution of the war. Then the revolution of the war. Then the revolution of the war. Then the revolution of the war. Then the revolution of the war. Then mechanized equipment, tanks, airplanes.
Humans no longer ran or rode horses on their own, but used machines. Then came another revolution: the advent of missile weapons, including those capable of delivering nuclear weapons. That is, warfare no longer became a direct combat war; it no longer began on the border between states, but it was now possible to strike deep into another state. Now we're talking about more than just drones.
Drones themselves must be considered in the context of robotics, artificial intelligence, and neural networks. This is the new military-technological revolution. In this war, firearms are rarely useful. Gunshot wounds are also extremely rare. Approximately 75% of personnel damage to equipment on both sides is the result of drone use.
About another 15% is artillery, and the remaining percentage is aviation. And drones, in essence, have replaced a lot of things. They've replaced grenade launchers, they've replaced... That is, these are high-precision weapons that allow us to do things in urban environments, in fields, in forests, that essentially replace several weapons systems of classical warfare. And you know, I want to say, that I see this as a very great danger from the point of view of the entire period that will follow, after the war. I did not understand why there are so many prisoners in Colombia. They are in the first place. They are in the first place. They are in the first place. They are in the first place. So, I am convinced, that this is the policy of the largest drug cartels, who, through military action, send their fighters—these drug cartels—to master modern means of combating the Americans. And in contact with your special forces, with the American army, they will apply what they learned here. And, by the way, what you, your American and European advisers taught them. It's a paradox, but believe me, it's that simple.
I know this for certain. Moreover, I have two testimonies from interrogations. The Colombians confirmed to me that they came from certain treasures against their will. The second negative point I can also mention is my first combat experience, when I had to engage in hand-to-hand combat, in skirmishes where you defeat the enemy by inflicting injuries incompatible with life.
And after that, it takes a long time to come to your senses. You'll probably understand, as a military man. It always puts a tremendous psychological strain on a person who's engaged in a duel with another person, directly wielding a weapon, firearm, knives, and so on. And when you're working with a drone, you have either goggles or a screen, a remote control, two sticks, and you work carefully.
We flew, and you see, enemy soldiers flew in and killed them. With a second drone, like our opponents do, they hang there for a long time, filming the dying soldier's agony. This is completely outrageous for us; we never do such a thing. But the enemy does it, they mock the dying. You see, people get used to this war, these drone operators get used to it.
That death is on the screen, in a picture. You don't stab anyone, you don't shoot anyone. It's a movie. What will these people do after the war? Good question. After all, not a single camera on the streets that can film a robber, a thief who robs banks, and so on, will be able to record, Where the drone came from, which window it flew into, who it killed. This creates enormous advantages for the criminal underworld, exploiting those who survived such a war to create enormous problems for law and order in the post-war period. That's why I'm currently training a large number of intelligence officers who aren't involved in the war. But, apparently, they will face this problem after it ends. Well, I can say that, for example, how many of my calculations will I need to have in order to sow chaos and destroy an entire division, if it is built according to I don't know, I don't know And how big is a squad?
When he says "a squad," how many soldiers? Each squad has three people. A squad leader, a drone operator, and an engineer, well, a sapper. And Ukrainians do the same, naturally. I watched an interesting video yesterday.
I was really happy, they really made me laugh last night. This is the capture of our tanker by British and French special forces. Clowns, absolute clowns. It's just embarrassing to even look at them. So, first they show the helicopter landing the special forces. So, the whole thing is filmed. So, they landed the cameraman first, and then filmed the landing. This is ridiculous.
Then, they walk through the bright corridors inside the tanker with a monocular. Why a monocular? It's for the absolute darkness there. It's, you know, a real professional doesn't want to behave like this. Even if he wants to be like his girlfriend, he doesn't want to do such a stupid thing. If there were two of them in such a tank, well, two would be enough, no one of them would come close to him. We would have hit them on the ground, about 10-15 kilometers. We would have just destroyed them together with all of them. I just respond to my words, I just say that it's different quality of the war.
I trust him. You know, they say for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. So today the Ukrainians are doing drone warfare. For instance, three years ago General Zaluzhny launched his summer counteroffensive. And the goal was to breach near Robotino, come to Tokmak and then come to Melitopol, this city, to break the land bridge in half, it failed. But today, the Ukrainians are trying to do the same thing with drones. They're attacking gas stations, they're attacking vehicles, they're terrorizing the people here. So they're trying to accomplish the same thing with drones.
SCOTT- You run a counter drone capability. What would you call counter drones? Is it simply shooting down drones or do you try to...
DMITRI- Then, in July, in July of 1923, General Zalojny, you're right, organized and commanded, so-called, counter-nastup. I was here and participated in his presence.
We had a big problem, really. The Ukrainian troops had a lot of Western equipment, which was equipped with night vision devices. We lacked these kinds of devices. This was a major shortcoming, which we addressed literally every day, every night. We supplied thermal imaging sights, night sights, and so on. I'll tell you a joke from that time, a truly hilarious situation. So, when the first devastating strike occurred, and a lot of artillery was involved in the Ukrainian breakthrough, our forward units retreated.
Ukrainian troops entered, among other places, Rabotino, the place you mentioned. I was there too, before the war began, when everything was still intact. And we see, suddenly, some island in the gray zone, and our soldiers are firing from there.
Anti-tank guided missiles were flying, machine guns were firing, they had knocked out two Ukrainian tanks. We were asking who these heroes were, we couldn't figure it out. And so I gave the order that night to send two scouts there and pick up these people who were there, in order to save them. That is, they were already behind enemy lines. And so in the evening, these two soldiers were brought to me, the heroes of these two heroes who continued to resist. They turned out to be about my age, about our age. I ask them, why didn't you retreat when you should have? They say, Comrade Commander, our legs hurt, that's why it's hard for us to retreat. An elderly man, like, remember, a Terminator—old, but not useless.
So, back then, during that counter-nastup, that is, in the summer of 1923, FPV first appeared. But the range at which we used FPV against Ukrainian equipment—it only approached us, at most, was one and a half kilometers. So, when we installed repeaters to increase the FPV range, it increased it to three kilometers. This was considered fantastic. This was 1923, only three years ago.
When I started telling you about how we began, well, entered combat operations, on January 1, 1925, I was the first to use drones with a fiber-optic control system here on the Dnieper, the so-called "Prince Vandal of Novgorod." They were on a fiber-optic cable, 15 kilometers long. I burned everything to a depth of 15 kilometers, including the first tanks and equipment.
That is, it wasn't 1.5 km, it was 15 km. Now we can destroy everything we can see at a distance of 30 km. The enemy is even further, about 35 km. The dead zone, the kill zone, is approximately 60-65 km wide. And this creates a completely new situation on the front.
That is, neither side can carry out any attacks using equipment, any traditional, classical military actions, or offensives. Everything will be destroyed before it even enters this kill zone. This is a completely new situation that requires rethinking and adopting new tactical approaches on the front. So now, when they say Russian troops have advanced 100 meters, ha-ha-ha, how funny.
Just walk 15 meters, that's quite a feat. Everything is visible; reconnaissance drones are hovering, transmitting images to the control center. This image is immediately processed by artificial intelligence. I can see any changes that have occurred in the past 24 hours. For example, some plastic bottle appeared in the forest belt. For me, that's a sign of life there. Someone has appeared there. We need to conduct further reconnaissance. That is, any changes in this kill zone are instantly detected by drones on both sides. I'm currently focusing on counter-drone operations. Why? Because when your highway is under attack—you were driving along this highway today, for example—it's under fire. Hornet drones, equipped with artificial intelligence, are flying along it. Incidentally, the developer is one of Google's owners and shareholders.
Artificial intelligence, a target library, and target acquisition and retention are used. It's a very dangerous situation. That's why the route is under attack, the bridges are under attack. What does this mean? How can you move forward at the front if you haven't solved the problem of clear skies in your rear? That's why I'm currently primarily focused on countering enemy unmanned aerial vehicles. We have our own interceptor drones, developed in-house.
They fly at speeds of over 350 km/h to catch up with long-range, heavy enemy drones. For example, we use light aircraft and moving vehicles as launch pads for interceptor drones. So, we're experimenting, exploring these options. Some are skeptical about fire teams, like machine guns, saying they're not very effective.
I have a different opinion, depending on how the work is structured. We're making specially automated turrets and installing twin machine guns. I have machine gun mounts, so-called rotary machine guns, which have six rotating 12.7mm barrels. And so, for example, tonight in the Tula region, my battalion—I also have a battalion there, which covers Moscow— With machine guns alone, we destroyed eight enemy heavy drones. And what's a heavy drone? Well, it's about 7-8 meters long, a huge bird, probably 10-12 meters long and with a wingspan. Machine guns, that's a question... Motor skills, skills. That's why I usually try to hire gamers and young people as UAV operators. They've been doing this work since childhood, right, with these so-called gadgets.
But at the machine guns, on the contrary, there are these serious, bearded men, obviously experienced, who shouldn't, with sore knees, who shouldn't run away from a machine gun. Because the one who doesn't leave their position wins. Sooner or later, they'll either shoot off a wing or blow up a drone in mid-air. That's what we're demonstrating now.
The route we were traveling on is now partially under our control. We've shot down five Hornets over the Novorossiya Highway in the last two days. We're detecting them via radar, meaning our radar stations are detecting their approach. We launch an interceptor, position ourselves behind it, and attack from above. Even though it's artificially intelligent, it still can't do anything against the operator.
Skilled in operating a drone interceptor. I can show you a video if you're interested. You can visit my channel, by the way, a Telegram channel, my last name is mine, just type in and...
SCOTT- The last thing, could you tell me more about this Hornet drone?
DMITRI- I think it's important for my family to understand that if I die here, it's Google that killed me. And the last thing is, can I borrow one of those drones that shoots it down, and I'll return it if we don't have to use it?
He said it's developed by Google. Google, yes, yes.
SCOTT- So it's an American weapon.
DMITRI- Yes, it is American, yes, it is, no one is hiding it.
SCOTT- Provided to the Ukrainians.
DMITRI- Yes. And they're using it to attack civilians here in Zaporozhye.
SCOTT- So, what's their mission? First, let's look at the tactical mission. Their mission is this. On this highway, there's military equipment, there's civilian equipment, and there's civilian equipment used by the military. For example, me. Ritter, realscottrit.com
DMITRI- Being a chameleon, changing the position of where you are, where you are, where you are, where I live.
I live in 20 places, [Russian words], here. Because if I sleep two nights in one place, they will kill me. So, I'm going to die. Right? So, if you live in this war, wise, wise, wise, wise, if you want. If you want. The one who will find a way to deceive the enemy and make him first [Russian word].
This is a very important point. The enemy needs to differentiate between military and civilian vehicles on this highway. To do this, they need to frighten the civilians, because they won't frighten the military; they'll have to drive here anyway. Therefore, they have a control system that targets all green vehicles. Furthermore, it targets anything cylindrical, that is, anything resembling fuel tankers. Third, their target library contains all military vehicles or those similar in shape to military vehicles. Army trucks, KamAZ trucks, Ural trucks, our Tiger armored vehicles, and so on, tanks, of course, and so on. That is, they have it all stored in their 3D models in the control system, the so-called target library. But when the drone flies and doesn't see any of them, or any of them, or any of them, Not even the fifth target stored in its memory, and when its battery runs low, it attacks any vehicle, including civilian ones. I'll explain the logic now. And this is done deliberately, to scare civilians into leaving this highway. Or to prevent them from traveling to Crimea, or here, or anywhere else.
So, it's a psychological terror. In order to improve their future work, they use any technology they see, adopting it for the military. Whether it's a military or a military one, it's a military one. Yes, of course, of course. That is, they modify their means of attack each time.
For example, we recently shot down a Hornet without Starlink and one Hornet with Starlink. And there were three Starlinks. One, two, three. So, no matter what turns, no matter what control during a combat mission, it still picked up the satellites it needed for guidance. Why? Because one of them, the one with Starlink, is the so-called mothership, right?
So, it's a repeater for 5-6 other drones that aren't connected to space communications. I've never seen that before. Another interesting thing: we recently shot down an airplane-type drone with FPV drones under its wings. So, it drops the FPV drones down, while it remains aloft, acting as a control repeater and also as an objective control point.
In other words, we're facing a very creative adversary. But unlike us, we rely on our national industry and economy, which are hampered by colossal sanctions and attacks on infrastructure. Our adversary has no problem instantly acquiring everything they need to improve their combat tactics and the logistics base for armed conflict.
But despite the fact that the autopilot is working, and a target acquisition and retention system, what we call neural networks, artificial intelligence, and so on. They still always have an operator. I'll give you an example. A few days ago, I was driving along this highway, and a drone followed me. It tried to attack. It was probably about 80 meters away from us, and it was flying at an altitude of 20-30 meters above the highway.
I was riding in a pickup truck, we deployed a machine gun and fired a burst at him. What did he do? He got away. He left the road. But it wasn't the machine gun that led him away. He simply realized that we would fight back and that we would most likely kill him. So he went for another defenseless target. Who did this, this decision, who made it? The machine gun? No.
It's a human. So, there's a human there all the time. They're just monitoring the drone's behavior, but the final decision to strike or not is made by the operator, who's constantly online. And I generally advise you to stick to the normal speed limit on the highway, like ours. If you see danger, just drive at least 140 km/h.
They'll leave you alone because their top speed is 125-130 km/h, no more. The only problem is in places where there's road construction, where they make small detours. You'll be forced to slow down there, so danger can catch up with you. For example, I destroyed a BMW X5 that way. The deputy commander of a Luftwaffe regiment. They have such a regiment, such a name for the Luftwaffe. Goering called him.
He was getting away from us quite successfully on the country road. I'll show you the video, if you want, after the show. But we caught up with him right on the U-turns, on all those country turns. So there's always an element of a race between life and death. Look, I could talk to you for hours.
SCOTT- This has just been one of the most fascinating conversations I've had in a long time. But I promised I wouldn't take more than the time we've already allocated. But I want to thank you very much for having this conversation. It's been fascinating. I've learned a lot. It scared me to death, but we'll find a way to get over it. I'd like to offer just a little token, my appreciation. This is a challenge coin.
It's an American military tradition. Here we have the American soldiers and the Russian soldiers meeting at the Elbe. It's a sign of friendship, so I'd like to offer this to you as a sign of friendship.
DMITRI- Thank you so much, Thank you very much. Thank you. Incidentally, I brought back many of these important symbols of our relationship from NATO. And when I was there, I served as ambassador for four years; it was a golden age of our relations; we all understood each other. But when I left, they all went to see me off at Brussels airport, apparently to make sure I actually got away.
Okay, let me show you some video because I promised you. I just got sent some footage from today. It's on Tula. It's a hornet? No, it's a lutey. A lutey, no, fixed wing. Yes, Antonov 196, yeah. I'll show you a second. This is a hornet. This is a hornet. So that's what it looks like.
It's about four or five kilometers of... This is the Ukrainian
line?
Did you break it already?
The car is turning. Now he's choosing a path. There he goes, now
we're following him. This is at Bapul's maximum flight speed.
That is, he has a reel, and accordingly, the reel is unwinding.
He's going faster than we are in a straight line. But here it's
important to stay on his tail and be patient, patient, patient.
We're waiting to see which way he's going, left or right. He's
diving from above now.
He's also an experienced man, that is, the commander is sitting there. He's already walking through the fields, you see, he's flying there. He understands that he's not... If he can stop, we'll catch up with him right away. Here's another intersection, slow down, that's it!
Leave a comment! This is a re-direct to my Substack page.
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