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On the night of October 5-6, the Ukrainian unmanned bomber "Horynych" went on the final part of its mission. It lay over Dzerzhynsk (an industrial city, a satellite of Nizhny Novhorod). Built on the site of a railway station, Dzerzhynsk is unremarkable, except that a hundred years ago it was called Rastyapino. On the central square there is a monument to the first secret service agent, in the center there are panel residential buildings, on the western outskirts there are several large chemical plants.
The bomber reached an industrial zone. The bomber’s target was the Yakov Sverdlov Plant, part of the “Rostec” Corporation. Almost five thousand workers at this plant produce explosives and fill them with high-explosive aviation bombs (demolition bombs) for Russian front-line aviation.
Dormitory district of Dzerzhynsk. Workshops of the plant named after Yakov Sverdlov, where demolition bombs are filled with explosives.
адмдзержинск.рф; Facebook
The commander of the deep strike group is tall, stocky, with short hair, with transparent green eyes. He is not yet fifty. His call-sign is “Horynych”. The bomber is named after his call sign. To date, “Horynych” has not advertised his activities, and he does not plan to reveal his name in the future. For two years now, his group has been striking strategic targets deep in Russia.
For security reasons, we will have to talk about his biography vaguely. Although, as is often the case, the details we are forced to omit are the most interesting.
Before the great war, “Horynych” led one of the “Great Construction” projects, related to aviation. Even before that, he had a multi-million dollar business, as far from military affairs as it is possible. He is not a regular soldier, but in the spring of 2022 he went to serve as a volunteer, and the war gave his life a new impetus.
Like most civilians who are “winding” their fourth year of service, he does not look at all like his pre-war photos. His “pre-war” Instagram has photos from resorts. In the “military” one, there are pictures taken near Chasiv Yar and on the outskirts of Bakhmut.
Nowhere on his social media is his current place of service mentioned — the 14th Regiment of the UAV Forces.
"Horynych" at the airport during mission preparation. October 6, 2025.
«Babel'»
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The operations of the 14th Regiment of the UAV Forces are almost completely classified. For example, they are not reflected in the general report of the UAV Forces. However, the history of the regiment is known in general terms. The backbone of the unit is made up of people from the Special Operations Forces (SOF).
The 14th Regiment is commanded by a career soldier with the call-sign “Charlie”. He previously served in the 3rd SOF Regiment. The current commander of the first battalion of the 14th Regiment with the call-sign “Casper” is a former group commander of the same 3rd SOF Regiment.
The co-founder of the 14th Regiment with the call sign “Fidel” also served in the Special Operations Forces. In the large structure of SBU, this is the only regiment focused on strategic strikes — hundreds of kilometers deep into Russia.
Due to its range and mission characteristics, the “Horynych” can be classified as a strategic bomber. Of course, this term has never been and is not applied to aircraft of this class, as they seem completely incompatible.
"Horynych" is a single-seat light aircraft with a classic layout and a gasoline engine. In the cockpit, instead of a pilotʼs seat, there is an additional fuel tank and batteries that power the navigation and communication systems.
A group of engineers and pilots have achieved that the aircraft can take off, fly through satellite signal suppression zones, hide from “Pantsir”, “Buk” and S-300, hit a target by coordinates with an accuracy of one meter, turn back and land in autonomous mode.
Two years ago, no one believed that this was possible.
A group of pilots and engineers prepare a plane for takeoff. October 6, 2025.
«Babel'»
The “Horynych” group was able to create a deep strike aircraft and carry out successful missions thanks to the coincidence of many factors. The head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration Vitaliy Kim provided the administrative resources necessary for test flights.
The commander of the “Charlie” regiment provided time and freedom of action. Partner countries provide the unit with intelligence information and special equipment. All of these factors are important and played their role.
But they would hardly have worked if it weren’t for the main reason — the deepstrike group, including “Horynych”, consists of small aircraft enthusiasts. The group includes a pilot instructor who taught “Horynych” to fly five years ago and his colleagues from the aviation school.
All of them have been in love with small aircraft for many years and lived by it even before the great war. The roots of this group are in private aviation clubs, which developed rapidly in Ukraine from the Covid pandemic to February 2022.
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“Horynych” himself sees the reason for his success in something else. Human will is important to him, but more important is the will of an overwhelming force. Itʼs the will of God. For most of his conscious life, “Horynych” believes and belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
“Horynych” came to faith as an adult. He was born in Western Ukraine, and his youth was spent in the Soviet Far East and Kamchatka. When he was five, his mother remarried to a sailor, so the family moved from garrison to garrison. Only once every two years did they come to their homeland to visit their grandparents.
“I didn’t want to go back every time,” says “Horynych”. He grew up in late Soviet culture and didn’t think about God.
In the mid-1990s, “Horynych” finished school in Kamchatka and fled. Firstly, he took a plane to Moscow, then a train to Kyiv, and then reached his hometown, located at the headwaters of the Southern Bug. Here he entered university to study economics and went into business. He was still not religious.
“But once, an evil spirit possessed a person close to me. He was rolling around on the floor, making [strange] sounds. I was told that there was a monastery nearby where Father Mykhailo served. He casts out demons. I put him in the car and took him [there].”
Within a few hours, “Horynych” arrived at the Banchensky Monastery, located in the Chernivtsi region on the border with Romania. Founded in 1996, the monastery grew over the course of ten years and became a place of pilgrimage from Ukrainian and Romanian towns and villages.
Since its founding, the monastery has had an orphanage, where several hundred orphans lived. Dozens of such children were adopted by the monasteryʼs abbot, Archimandrite Lonhyn (real name — Mykhailo Zhar). As well as Father Mykhailo.
The Voznesensky Banchensky Monastery was built in 1994-2003. The monastery ensemble includes the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the bell tower.
“Horynych” found Father Mykhailo in a field, where he was working with the monks.
“We settled in the monastery, lived there for a week, and performed the ceremony. There I saw for the first time what an Orthodox priest was like,” says “Horynych”.
Convinced that a miracle had happened before his eyes, “Horynych” began to gain faith in God.
“[Now] I am just an instrument in His hands. I don’t understand what He is doing, but I accept everything with gratitude. I have been in such trouble… The fact that I am alive and well is his merit. I am under the protection of God.”
On the eve of the great war, “Horynych” worked on the “Great Construction” project and was not worried about the future. He did not believe that some Orthodox would go to war against other Orthodox, especially since he still had friends and relatives in Russia.
But when Putin gave the order to invade, Patriarch Kirill blessed him, and the Russian army moved in columns from five directions. He reconsidered his attitude towards the Russian people.
“There is no Orthodoxy in those fucking people.”
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In 2020, “Horynych” ʼs business came to a standstill due to the “Covid” pandemic. He used his extra free time to learn a new hobby. On YouTube, “Horynych” came across the channel of Ukrainian pilot Volodymyr Vasyliev, who was picking up private planes for sale and popularizing small aviation.
Then “Horynych” decided to get a private pilot’s license and enrolled in an aviation school.
Two years before the great war, during “Covid”, Ukrainian small aviation unexpectedly boomed. In March 2020, all major Ukrainian airports (except for “Boryspil) were closed, but small private airfields continued to operate.
It was possible to fly abroad from Ukraine on your own plane with a negative “Covid” test. Aviation clubs in Kolomyia, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyi held festivals, where dozens of enthusiasts flew.
New airfields opened in Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathian regions. A large private airfield was being built near Obukhiv. Some even hatched plans to build a private “aerovillage”, with a runway instead of a central street.
KOROLOV AVIA FEST small aircraft festival at the “Zhytomyr” airport. August 14, 2021.
Plane Ukraine / Youtube
Private aviation schools were experiencing an influx of cadets. These were owners of IT companies, managers of agricultural holdings, big businessmen — anyone who could potentially afford a light aircraft costing from EUR 50 to 500 000. One of these cadets was “Horynych”.
“Horynych” immediately liked flying. Like many other enthusiasts, he fell in love with the sensations that aerobatics gives. Several experienced pilot instructors worked at the aviation school.
“Horynych” was told how one of the instructors named Maksym practiced landing with an engine failure. He did not apply low throttle (as everyone else did), but actually turned it off. “Horynych” said that he wanted to learn from him.
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The first time in his life, Maksym (his name has been changed) saw an airplane up close was when he was six years old. His parents brought him to the “Aviasvit” aerospace salon, which was held at the “Antonov” airfield near Hostomel.
On the runway stood the An-22 Antey, a Soviet heavy transport aircraft with a characteristic two-spoked tail and massive landing gear fairings. Maksym was impressed by the size and design of the plane. He immediately reported to his parents that he would become a pilot.
At school, Maksym had two hobbies: boxing and airplanes. His parents had nothing to do with aviation (his father worked as a driver, his mother as a cook) and were unlikely to be able to give him any advice. Coming home from school, Maksym would sit down at his computer and spend hours glued to the “Flightradar24” website, watching air traffic over the Kyiv region.
Until 2014, there was a large air route here. The number of planes that flew over the area per day was in the hundreds, and Maksym studied their characteristics.
In the tenth grade, Maksym finally decided that he would study to be a pilot. To understand whether he was healthy, he passed the initial MFE (medical flight examination). It turned out that in order to fulfill his dream, he needed to give up boxing — pilots were not accepted with an injured nasal septum.
After a long break, the National Aviation University (NAU) was recruiting a flight group. Only eight people were accepted into the first group, including Maksym.
An-225 on the “Antonov” airport site. “Hostomel”, 2017.
Wikimedia
After the first year, the NAU students were sent on an internship. It took place at the “Antonov” airfield, the same place where Maksym decided to become a pilot. In August 2017, he made his first solo flight. The following year, he received a Private Pilot License (PPL) at a private flight school.
At the same flight school where Maxim studied, he was offered the position of instructor. His career quickly went uphill. First, he became an instrument instructor, then a multi-engine instructor, and then a night instructor. Hundreds of students passed through his hands, one of whom was “Horynych”.
At the same time, Maksym met and became friends with the former manager of the Ukrainian charter airline “Windrose”, an experienced pilot much older than himself. He helped Maksym find a job in large aviation, which is difficult to get into without connections.
The pilotʼs position was found at a new airline. In 2021, “Nova Post” founded its own airline — “Supernova Airlines” — and was recruiting pilots for Boeing 757 medium-haul airliners.
Maksym signed a contract and planned to go to special courses in early 2022 to master his first large aircraft.
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In the spring of 2021, “Horynych” ʼs acquaintances, who came to power on the wave of the electoral success of the "Servant of the People", offered him a job. They had to work on one of the large-scale projects of the "Great Construction", related to aviation. “Horynych” was then preparing to take the exam for a private pilotʼs license and saw the hand of God in this offer, and he agreed.
It was necessary to work in one of the problematic regions of the country. A triumvirate of three key individuals arrived in the region from the center. The first, a deputy from the “Servant of the People party”, became the public face of the team. The second, the head of the regional administration, fought against illegal business and separatists. The third, “Horynych” was behind the scenes involved in project management, taking into account the specifics of the region.
The specifics were that part of the regionʼs elite consisted of semi-criminal businessmen who were in cahoots with local officials.
“Horynych” ʼs eyes sparkle when he talks about his facility. With particular pleasure, he recalls how he used official channels to spread the "disinformation" about where exactly it was supposed to be built.
“Horynych” says, that local landowners immediately bought up land in that area for one and a half thousand dollars per hectare, hoping to resell it profitably. When the Regional State Administration (RSA) named the real construction site, they were shocked.
A description of the “Horynych” project can still be found on the website of one of the regional city councils. For objective reasons, the project deadlines have long been disrupted. The war prevented construction from starting.
By February 2022, one of the members of the triumvirate had fallen out of favor with the president, and “Horynych” himself did not receive the official position he had hoped for. When Russian columns moved towards Kyiv, he took a train to the capital, showed up at the nearest TRC, and signed up for the Territorial Defence Center (TDC).
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Like many other volunteers in the spring of 2022, “Horynych” spent several months in TDC and was transferred to another branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Over the years of working with the authorities, he had developed various connections. One of his acquaintances suggested that he try his hand at the Special Operations Forces. The offer looked attractive.
After thinking about who he would like to serve with, “Horynych” called his former flight school instructor Maksym. Together they ended up in the SOF “Rukh Oporu” — a new structure that was supposed to organize sabotage work in the occupied territories.
“Horynych” and Maksym went through “training”, participated in the Kyiv operation, and in the first year of the great war worked in the Donetsk region with an “Avenger” drone.
It was an aircraft-type UAV that was launched from the hands. The “Avenger” could fly about 40 kilometers to a target, drop a 3.5-kilogram ammunition on it, turn back and parachute down.
“Horynych” traveled to combat operations in his own car. It was then that photos from the outskirts of Bakhmut appeared on his phone.
Destroyed Bakhmut in 2023. "Horynych" launches Avenger UAV near Bakhmut. 2022
Konstantin and Vlada Liberov / «Babel»; Personal archives / Babel
Seeing what UAVs were capable of, “Horynych” realized that small aircraft would have an important role to play in the war. His experience as a private pilot, his work on an aviation project, and his combat experience all gave him the confidence that he could create something much more effective than the “Avenger”. A bomber capable of carrying out missions at ranges of up to hundreds of kilometers.
In early 2023, “Horynych” and Maksym were sent to serve in different military units of SOF. Maksym became an instructor (and then the head of a group of instructors) on the “Avenger” UAV. He taught at a training center, where the best pilots from various units of the SOF came.
“Horynych” transferred to a separate Special Operations Center “West”. Near Bakhmut, his group showed good results, and he had the opportunity to do what he really wanted to do — to create a bomber based on an ultralight aircraft.
The bomber was based on the “Skyranger”, a French aircraft that can be purchased for $50 000-55 000 as a DIY kit. “Horynych” found engineers who could refine it. Firstly, the plane needed to be equipped with an autopilot so that it could take off, maneuver in the air, and land without a pilot in the cockpit.
The bomber had to be constantly tested in action. For this, “Horynych” needed a training ground and an administrative resource, to document the sorties. “Horynych” was helped in this be the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitaliy Kim.
In addition, he gave him access to the army arsenal, where hundreds of the Fragmentation-Mine-100-120 aviation bombs had been stored since Soviet times. When “Horynych” saw the bombs lying idle and perfectly matched in weight, the picture in his head finally took shape.
Much later, in April 2024, during one of the missions, “Horynych” bomber crashed almost intact on Russian territory. Photos of the plane were posted by propagandist Kyrylo Fedorov. Western aviation experts immediately recognized it as an ultra-small “Skyranger” and even clearly identified the type of bomb under the fuselage.
What went unnoticed was that a sticker with the logo of the “Nikolaevskiy Vanyok” Telegram channel was stuck on the fuselage itself. It was a gesture of gratitude to the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration.
Fragmentation-Mine-100-120 and 120 mm artillery mines on suspension units. (“Horynych" can also be equipped with demolition bombs-250.) October 6, 2025.
«Babel'»
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In 2023, “Horynych” realized that it would not be possible to bring the bomber into service within the framework of SOF and carry out missions on it. The reasons he gives can be described as military-political. The only way out he saw was to transfer to a unit where his hands would be free.
At the beginning of 2023, the tactics of the great war were already different than a year ago. Ukraine used FPV drones, dropped mines from quadcopters, the front line was saturated with aerial reconnaissance wings.
The higher command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine understood that the future was behind drones, and began to scale the accumulated experience.
“Drone” companies and battalions (RUBAK and BUBAK) began to appear in the brigades. Their principles of operation and staffing were copied into a special unit — a separate battalion of the 190th training center, which was in the reserve of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The battalion was created by people from the Special Operations Forces. It was “Fidel”, it was “Kasper”, and future officers of the 14th Regiment. In the fall of 2022, they found a way to the commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhny.
“Fidel” convinced Zaluzhny that the structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine needed a specialized unit that would use drones both tactically (over tens of kilometers) and strategically (over hundreds of kilometers). The unit grew rapidly, often at the expense of pilots who had previously served in SOF. One of those pilots was a graduate of Maksym’s course and offered him a transfer to his unit.
At the very beginning of the war, “Horynych” and Maksym agreed that they would move in the army together. In addition, Maskym managed to call up two of his flight school comrades to SOF. Maksym called his graduate and said that he was ready to come, but only in a group of four people.
As a “dowry” they had an almost ready-made bomber plane. As Maksym says, at first the battalion command did not really believe in the prospects of the plane. But it needed experienced pilots and was ready to take a risk.
In the summer of 2023, the separate battalion became the 14th regiment. The General Staff approved a career officer with the call-sign “Charlie” as the regiment commander, another SOF graduate. Maksym recalls that upon meeting him, he did not immediately realize that he was the commander of a military unit. He looked too young. “Charlie” asked Maksym what he needed. The creators of “Horynych” only needed freedom of action and time to refine the aircraft.
Three months later, the regimental commander “Charlie” and the commander of the first battalion “Casper” came to the “Horynych” group at the training ground. The group demonstrated the bomber in action.
The plane took to the air and completed the mission. It performed the necessary maneuvers and accurately hit the skeleton of the “training” tank with a combat aerial bomb. This was a turning point — the command believed that “Horynych” had a future.
On his first missions, “Horynych” drove his civilian car (a Mercedes C-class). Later, he sold the sedan and bought an SUV. 2024.
З особистого архіву / «Бабель»
Of course, the plane still needed some work. The main problem was the communication between the board and the control center. The “Horynych” autopilot could guide the plane through the mission even without communication, using an inertial navigation system.
However, errors inevitably accumulate in the inertial system, and the plane deviates from the given mission. Communication with the board is necessary for the autopilot to receive the correct coordinates of the board and go on a mission again. Equipping the plane with a satellite communication system was suggested by the commander of one of the advanced “drone” units, who arrived to test the bomber.
In addition, the “Horynych” engineers strengthened the aircraft’s supporting structure and finalized the software support.
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Almost everything that happened next with “Horynych” is strictly classified. The missions of his bomber are not disclosed. All that can be said is that the news about them — fires at Russian strategic infrastructure facilities — has already raised the spirits of the entire country several times.
During the operations of 2023-2024, where “Horynych” was used, the regimentʼs employees received two orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
In early 2024, the regiment became part of the UAV Forces. “Horynych” recalls with pleasure the work of the regiment at a time when the UAV Forces was commanded by Vadym Sukharevsky. According to him, Sukharevsky, having made sure that he was dealing with qualified people, gave them freedom of action.
For example, “Horynych” ʼs group could freely contact representatives of partner countries. As “Horynych” says that Sukharevsky orders easily descended down the UAV Forces chain of command, and the commanders of combat units did not have to "jump over fences".
In addition, Sukharevsky supported the regiment commanders when they nominated their subordinates for state awards for successful operations. This motivated everyone to show initiative.
In June 2025, Vadym Sukharevsky was replaced as commander of the UAV Forces by Robert Brovdi. Several major changes have occurred in the structure. The UAV Forces now includes the “Drone Line” units, which were previously part of the Ground Forces.
“The new commander understands the business and studies the performance of the unit. We are confident that we will be able to show good results,” says Horynych.
As before, “Horynych” personally goes to launches. He says that on the first missions he himself mounted the sides and hung the bombs. Currently, he coordinates the work of the group. And he glues posters-stickers with the logo of the telegram channel "Nikolaevsky Vanyok" on the fuselage.
His group is working at the airfield where the launch is being prepared. The youngest looks about eighteen. The oldest is about fifty. They are wearing sweatpants and jeans, hoodies and fleeces, “Lowa” tactical boots and regular sneakers. The boards are brought to the airfield disassembled and assembled near the airport. They are refueled. They are taken out to the runway. They are installed with detonators.
The navigator, who is in the mobile command post, loads the mission into the planeʼs autopilot via a radio modem. An SUV pulls up behind the plane, with “Horynych” and Maksym in it. At the ARM command, the engine is started remotely. The plane begins a runway run. The SUV accelerates behind it. The headlights snatch the runway and tail out of the darkness.
“Horynych” is driving. He drives the car with one hand. With the other, he holds his phone and records the start on video. Maksym, in the seat next to him, clutches the control panel in his hands. “Horynych” counts the speed out loud.
"Seventy..."
"Eighty…"
"Ninety…"
"Take off".