Ukrainian Drone Forces Commander's Message to the Baltic States: Clear the Russian Border and Establish a “Kill Zone”

Skip to footer

The commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Major Robert Brovdi, better known as Magyar, is urging the Baltic states to prepare more forcefully for a possible Russian attack. Photo: Martin Pedaja

THE BALTIC SENTINEL

Ukrainian Drone Forces Commander's Message to the Baltic States: Clear the Russian Border and Establish a “Kill Zone”

Jaanus PiirsaluWar Correspondend at Postimees

12th August 2026, 22:39

Recommendation: clear a three-to-five-kilometer zone along the border, leaving drones nowhere to hide.

Underground fiber-optic infrastructure has to be built to enable continuous drone surveillance on the border.

All this could be achieved within this year.

The Baltic states still misjudge the military threat from Russia and are not preparing adequately for it, says the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Major Robert Brovdi, better known as Magyar.

Magyar laid out his own action plan for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on how to rapidly build a strong drone-based defense against a possible Russian attack. At the heart of his recommendations is creating a drone-enforced “kill zone” along the Russian border where, figuratively speaking, not even a mouse could move undetected.

“Guys, stop dragging your feet. Here are the first five steps you need to take in 2026,” Brovdi, better known by his callsign Magyar, told Postimees in an interview in early August. “None of this is complicated. You just have to make the decision and do it.”

Magyar did not come up with his five-step plan for defending the Baltic states on the spot. Even while arranging the interview, I was given to understand that Magyar was particularly eager to discuss the defense of the Baltic states. During the interview, it was clear that he had thought carefully about what capabilities and level of readiness the Baltic states would need in the event of a possible Russian attack or military provocation.

August 2, 2026, central Ukraine. “Magyar’s Birds” (Птахи Мадяра) conduct medium-range strikes against the occupied Crimean Peninsula from central Ukraine. Photo: Martin Pedaja<br>According to him, the plan is based on one central objective: keeping the enemy from entering Baltic territory in the first place. “If you know early enough that an offensive against you is being planned, you can strike back immediately and prevent the enemy from entering your territory,” he stressed.

Five Proposals

Proposal No. 1 — create a notional “kill zone” along the border with Russia — and, in Lithuania’s case, along the border with Belarus. This would be an area where drones could operate and strike freely. The wider it is, the better. Given the small size of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, this “kill zone” should be at least two to five kilometers wide.

“Clear absolutely everything there,” Magyar said. “It has to be a completely open area where drones can destroy absolutely anything that moves. There must be nowhere to hide behind trees or buildings. Everything has to be visible. This is your buffer zone, so to speak.”

Proposal No. 2 — to make the “kill zone” work, special infrastructure must be built to support modern technologies. All of these technologies depend on communications. According to Magyar, Ukraine’s wartime experience has shown that fiber-optic connections are the most reliable.

“Not above ground — run it underground, 30 to 50 centimeters deep,” Magyar said. “And your entire border should be covered by this communications network in a grid-like system.”

The fiber-optic network running along the entire border should be interconnected so that sensors, cameras, drone positions, communications nodes, and other systems can be plugged into it at different points. The entire underground fiber-optic network should also be interconnected across the Baltic states.

“This fiber-optic infrastructure would then allow you to establish as many drone launch sites as necessary, with the drones taking off while their pilots control them remotely,” Magyar said. “To protect the pilots, they should be operating from Riga, Vilnius, London, or anywhere else. The important thing is that they operate remotely.”

Proposal No. 3 — build an effective tactical, short-range air-defense network capable of “seeing” 15 to 30 kilometers out. Such systems should be deployed densely along the planned “kill zone.”

The purpose of this air defense would be to detect all enemy reconnaissance and attack drones in the air, at any altitude, and then destroy them using interceptor drones, electronic warfare systems, or other means.

“Magyar’s Birds” conducting medium-range strikes against the Crimean Peninsula occupied by the Russian Federation. Photo: Martin Pedaja<br>“If the enemy wants to invade you, they won’t come with tanks first. They won’t begin with massive artillery barrages,” Magyar said. “They will come first with...