“In Hostomel they said: ‘The colonel is already there. Will you command the defense detachment?’ I agreed,” – Battalion Commander 425 OBBpS Valeriy “Gost” Povarov

09:00, 21.03.2025

12 min.896Interview

The commander of the 425th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Valery “Gost” Povarov, in an interview with UNIAN, told how he burned enemy “armor” near Kyiv with a TRO detachment, hunted tanks near Bakhmut, and exchanged his job in the Ministry of Defense for “planes” and “wings.”

Through Gostomel, Bakhmut, Kupyansk – to the Ministry of Defense, and back – to the guys with whom they destroyed enemy tanks and dug themselves out of a half-destroyed basement. The military career of the battalion commander of the 425th Separate Battalion of Unmanned Systems Valery Povarov is as twisted as a Hollywood plot. He has the shoulder straps of a colonel, 15 years of investigative experience behind his shoulders, served in the National Bureau of Interpol, was the head of the investigative department of the capital’s UBOS. But on February 24, 2022, he was offered to forget about the “diamonds” on his shoulder straps and become a soldier – the commander of a detachment of territorial defense fighters (TRO).

Valery Povarov liberated the Kyiv region from the TRO, was a platoon commander, a company commander. He served in the reconnaissance battalion headquarters, but “Gost” chose to work “on the ground”, or rather “in the air” – in an aerial reconnaissance crew.

In early 2024, he received an offer to undergo re-certification and, already in the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, transfer to the Main Directorate of Military Justice of the Ministry of Defense. He agreed, served in the Mobilization Headquarters, but… returned to the guys with whom he had flown in Bakhmut and near Kupyansk. The old, native company turned into the 425th Separate Battalion of Unmanned Systems, Valery Povarov became its commander.

In an interview with UNIAN, Valery “Gost” Povarov recalled how, together with the TROshniks, he burned the enemy’s “armor” near Kyiv, hunted for tanks near Bakhmut, and how the creative idea of online broadcasts from the Lviv Opera became the core for creating a streaming system directly from the front line.

Mr. Battalion Commander, at one time you served in Interpol, were the deputy head of the Kyiv Department of Combating Organized Crime, and received the rank of colonel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs system… How did it happen that you practically began your combat career in a full-scale war as a soldier?

On February 24, 2022, I saw enemy columns moving, arrived in Gostomel. I met the guys from the National Guard, asked: “Who is your senior?”. There was a colonel there. We got to know each other. I said: “I’m also a colonel. Ready…” In response: “The colonel is already there. There is no detachment commander. Will you take the TROShniks?”. I agreed: “Detachment, yes detachment.”

How difficult were the first days?

Our detachment was a little bit, but it was retreating. We did not have the combat capability to restrain the enemy. Imagine: against a company in which we had 90 TRoshniks (the vast majority of whom had never served in the army at all), a battalion-tactical group of the Pskov airborne division was operating. This is 800 people with equipment, artillery, and aviation support. We were attacked twice by Su-25 (“Grak”). They did not hit, but, to put it mildly, it is unpleasant when infantry is attacked by aviation (at that time, the Russians simply flew overhead and attacked whenever they wanted).

But the most difficult thing at that time was the lack of people who really knew how to lead. That is, I expected officers with experience to come. Guys who had served in the past and were specialists, for example, in aviation, in engineering support…

Not all officers were ready to take responsibility, although the soldiers had the following attitude: “I will fight to the end, I will not be captured!” They had to make independent decisions and have a little doubt: is this right?

I had no experience of participating in combat at that time, I learned directly “in the field.”

Tell us about your first fights. Which ones were the most memorable?

When the liberation of Kyiv region began, we, as infantry, were attached to a consolidated tank company. By that time I was already acting (temporarily acting) platoon commander. We moved from the villages of Hnativka and Petrushki (Buchansky district, — UNIAN). We reached the village of Myla. We crossed the Zhytomyr highway, entered Dmytrivka, where a tank battle took place.

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You probably saw a photo of the column that was destroyed there in the news? Our guys with grenade launchers did that, too. We destroyed about ten pieces of equipment together with tankers and other units.

After the liberation of the Kyiv region, I became the acting company commander and remained so until September 2022. In the fall, I was offered to transfer to the 120th, at that time a reconnaissance battalion (later it became a regiment). I transferred to the “OCHI” unit, to aerial reconnaissance. They offered to lead the staff work, but I chose a combat unit. I was the commander of a reconnaissance group, participated in the defense of Bakhmut.

In general, I know almost every bush near Bakhmut. Because for half a year we flew every day, without days off, and the only rest was to get some sleep. After all, we had to provide information: we adjusted the artillery, helped the infantry. There is an interesting story about how we calculated the tank.

Can you tell me more about this?

The 77th Airmobile Brigade approached us, and a tank from Paraskoviyivka was working on it. The enemy had a very experienced crew: a few shots and they immediately changed positions. A few more shots and another change. So the tank gradually “disassembled” our positions, and it was extremely difficult to destroy it.

We hunted him for a week. We found out where he was firing from, mapped all the positions where he was seen. We analyzed everything and figured out where he could be hiding. The artillery destroyed him with the first shot – only the turret flew away.

Later, we worked with the guys from the 3rd assault, who were conducting a counterattack on Klishchiivka. It so happened that our position was on the flank, we saw all the enemy positions “at an angle”. We did not allow the tanks to work. As soon as the movement began, we transmitted coordinates, adjusted artillery, all the means that destroyed the enemy. We provided information about long-range targets, adjusted the impressions of aviation and HIMARS. This can be compared with today’s tasks of our battalion: the destruction of logistics centers, headquarters.

But weren’t you also shelled in Bakhmut?

We had just arrived in Bakhmut, deployed, and on the third day we were accidentally covered. There was an insane density of soldiers there. Next to us was a mortar, 50 meters away was a cannon, here was infantry, there was infantry. The Russians simply “poured” all over the city and covered us – they were buried in the basement. The explosion was right behind the wall, less than a meter from me. The blast wave knocked me off my feet. While I was falling, in those split seconds, the fragments pierced the hood of my jacket, but did not touch my neck. The guys from our crew were in the basement a little further away, and also without injuries.

Immediately after arrival

Then only the equipment was blown away, but we continued working anyway. We looked for another position, ran from house to house all day, and conducted reconnaissance.

For the next few weeks, shells and mines hit the houses in front of us, behind us, to the right, to the left, almost every day. Everything was blown away, and only fragments flew at us.

They were working normally… They left Bakhmut when the enemy was so close that bullets started flying.

I know that you also worked in the Kupyansk direction.

In Kupyansk, I was no longer directly in the crew, but coordinated, helped conduct reconnaissance, and was involved in evacuation. For example, one of our crews worked at night. When they were returning, in the dark they drove into the tank tracks and stopped. It was in the area of Golubivka, in a straight line — 500 meters to the enemy units. The situation is difficult, there is constant shelling. On the morning of December 31, they set out to pull them out.

We jump into our Toyota, we drive not in a straight line, but through the forest, the swamp, past minefields and our other units, which could not figure out who was going where, and start “Friendly Fire”. We constantly wait for them to start shelling… But, you know, the guys often joked back then: “Commander, come to us more often! When you are here, we don’t get any shelling.” And then it was quiet.

They jumped up to our car, threw a rope, and pulled it out. We had to quickly turn around and return, but the road was narrow, and on one side was the deep rut that the brothers had driven into. Where there was no rut, it was either a swamp or mined… But we chose a safe area, turned around without incident, and raced back. We saved both people and valuable equipment.

I know that you passed the re-certification, received the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, transferred to the Ministry of Defense, and returned to your unit. Why did you take such a step?

Yes, I could stay at the Ministry of Defense, work in a relatively “light mode”. But I have comrades who died. These are the guys with whom we stood at the checkpoint on February 22nd, there are losses among our crews… I realized that I want more active actions, I want to “return to the ground”, I want to provide assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine with my own experience. I believe that my responsibility is to continue this work, to finish it in our favor. It was not in vain that the guys laid down their lives?!

Tell us about the 425th Independent Unmanned Systems Battalion, which you currently command. What makes it unique?

Our battalion has an FPV company, “bombers”, ground drones, but the specifics are aerial reconnaissance. This is one of the most important areas.

It’s very difficult for infantry now. I was an infantryman myself, I see what’s happening directly on the front line. I know what it’s like to go from stronghold to stronghold. I know what it costs, how physically prepared you need to be, what kind of stable mentality and motivation you need to have.

The actions of our battalion will greatly facilitate the work of the infantry. We will be able to destroy a large number of the enemy on the approaches, not giving them the opportunity to engage in contact combat.

And to talk about the uniqueness, we need to go back to the beginning of 2022. And then the UAVs that were available flew, collecting information. But what did they do with it then? They took the flash drive and took it to the command.

At the same time, back during the ATO, the guys made the first successful attempts at broadcasting from a drone, and, returning to civilian life, began to stream civilian events. In 2022, a creative idea for online broadcasts from the stage of the Lviv Opera became the core of the new “OCHI” system.

This system allows simultaneous broadcasting, displaying a “picture” of several crews on the monitor. It was very quickly appreciated at all levels, and, for example, the liberation of the Kharkiv region was already taking place in “online mode”.

UAV streams have become a common occurrence on the front / photo 14th operational brigade named after Ivan Bohun of the Chervona Kalina National Military University

Now “OCHI” makes it possible to combine any means of aerial reconnaissance into one system. That is, the company commander needs to know what is happening here and now – this is information from the “mavics”. The combat unit is interested in what is there tens of kilometers away, then it is “Matris-300”, which gives more than 30-40 km in depth. At the operational-tactical level, the whole picture is interesting, these are the “wings”. The “OCHI” system provides all this information. We can simultaneously display an online broadcast of a large number of calculations on the screen, connect a large number of other units to this information.

Is this a unique system?

There are similar developments, but our image quality is higher (it’s not for nothing that many television workers serve with us). We are officially codified by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We pay a lot of attention to cybersecurity, others definitely don’t have this level of protection.

But the main value of our battalion is actually the people, those who work with the “OCHI” system and our crews. I was on the front line with almost all of them. We have experienced instructors who taught me to fly once.

You mentioned your experience working in the Ministry of Defense, in particular, you had a connection with the topic of mobilization, so this question should not surprise you. One of the problems of mobilization for Ukrainians is uncertainty, no one knows what will happen to them after receiving a summons. And quite frequent questions like: “What if I learn to fly and end up in the infantry?” What will you answer?

425 OBBpS is part of the priority formation. We can mobilize people directly to us. That is, a person is sent to the training center already as a serviceman of our unit, he cannot get into another. After BZVP (basic military training) – professional training with us. The next step is to practice skills, as we say, in light conditions. For example, this is monitoring the state border.

Our instructors spend a lot of time figuring out: what tool, what position is suitable for a newcomer. Yes, not everyone will be able to fly a big “plane”, not everyone will be able to fly a “Mavic”, because there must be a feeling of a drone, for this you need a God’s Gift. But this person, perhaps, is better versed in computer data, will be able to process information. The “EYE” system needs professional computer specialists.

We also need those who can service the equipment. An example from personal experience: repairing the Starlink cable in field, combat conditions is another task. You have to find the “cores”, twist them, attach them with electrical tape, or whatever you want, so that there is a connection and you can go to the command post.

In general, we need a lot of specialists now: from pilots to chefs. Believe me, a person who knows how to cook is very much appreciated.

Vlad Abramov

(C)UNIAN 2025