Judges Firing Machine Guns... Ukraine's 'Drone Hunters' in Fierce Action

35 Current and Former Judges Assigned Drone Defense Duty in Capital
Tracking Russian Suicide Drones and Shooting Them Down with Old Machine Guns

Judges belonging to paramilitary organizations in Ukraine are known to be of great help in airspace defense. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 20th (local time) that "Ukrainian judges are intercepting Russian suicide drones flying into the capital Kyiv with machine guns."

According to the report, about 35 Ukrainian judges belong to a Ukrainian paramilitary organization called "Mriya," which consists of approximately 380 volunteers.

They have been participating in airspace defense activities since last fall when Russia began sending "Shahed-136" (hereafter Shahed) drones toward Ukraine. Some are retired, but most are currently serving in the Ukrainian judiciary.

Russia has deployed 2,000 Shahed drones imported from Iran on the battlefield. Iran is known to have recently provided these drones, which were previously used to attack Iraqi Kurds, to Russia.

The Russian suicide drone 'Shahed' flying in the sky
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

The Shahed drone is a suicide bomb-type drone that carries explosives and rushes toward targets like a missile. It can fly up to about 2,000 km and can also loiter over target areas. However, its top speed is only about 185 km/h, which is not very fast.

The judges mainly take positions on rooftops of buildings in Kyiv and are tasked with shooting down drones with machine guns. They form squads of three to four people using night vision goggles, laser equipment, and tablet PCs to track Shahed drones.

Yuri Chumak, a 48-year-old judge serving at the Supreme Court of Ukraine, said, "Our squad has intercepted five drones so far." Retired judge Viktor Pomon (61), who joined the Mriya unit after being discharged due to age following voluntary enlistment, said, "I am doing this work so that my children and grandchildren can have a peaceful future."

The Mriya unit utilizes modern equipment such as silencers and optical devices added to old weapons like the 1944 Soviet-made recoil-operated machine gun. Judge Chumak explained, "With this, we can easily and cheaply shoot down Shahed drones." When a Shahed drone approaches closely, its noise allows for immediate location detection.

Foreign media stated, "The judges are precisely complementing the air defense network that has blocked multiple drone attacks," and added, "Since Russia is reportedly planning another large-scale drone assault, there will be more opportunities for them to play an active role in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.