Daniel Connery in Ukraine 🇺🇦
Experienced Technology Leader | Amazon, Deloitte, Lockheed Martin alum | US Army Officer veteran
The University of Texas at Dallas Defense Usability Assessment Lab (DUAL)
Ukraine
July 2, 2025
In an information war over-saturated with Russian propaganda, the search for the truth about Ukraine—and especially occupied Crimea—feels elusive. But some truths are best understood through people, and for me, one of those people is a soldier known by the call sign Kafa.
This is the first in what I hope will become a series of soldier profiles. Each will spotlight those I’ve had the privilege to serve alongside. Due to OPSEC and personal privacy, I must tread carefully—but Kafa, already a local icon, is a fitting place to begin.
According to OSINT, Kafa serves in Ukraine’s 93rd Motorized Infantry Brigade. In my role as an Electronic Warfare (EW) specialist, I supported multiple Ukrainian units, including her current drone team she leads.
Charismatic and determined, Kafa is the kind of person who captivates a room, but when I met her, I was seeking knowledge about two things: drones and the truth about Crimea. I came to Ukraine not with a plan to serve, but to learn. I spent three months in Poland just trying to untangle the web of Russian propaganda. It wasn’t nearly enough.
Russia invests an estimated $1 billion annually into disinformation campaigns. After more than a year on the ground in Ukraine, I’ve come to believe that the only way to approach the truth is to get as close to the front lines—and the people there—as possible. I’ve served in Toretsk, a town left in ruins by Russian aggression. That experience left no doubt in my mind: Russia has no care for the people of the Donbas.
But Crimea remains a harder question. I can’t go back in time, and I’ve found no opportunity to serve in Crimea itself—though I’ve tried. That’s why meeting Kafa mattered so much.
She spent her youth in Crimea before being forced to flee to Germany. Her call sign, Kafa, is a nod to her home in Crimea. In many ways, she’s the closest I’ll ever come to firsthand insight into occupied Crimea—and her account mirrors Ukraine’s official narrative.
I can’t say with certainty what the truth is, but I can say this: Kafa lives her truth. She’s spent the last three years fighting to liberate her homeland. That’s not rhetoric—that’s action. And in a war where facts are distorted and narratives weaponized, her actions speak louder than any statement.
Kafa is no ordinary soldier, she’s a living rebuke to Russia’s multi-billion-dollar propaganda machine. She’s a Valkyrie delivering precision strikes with one unwavering hope: to see her people free.
In a war full of unsung heroes, I don’t believe in gatekeeping valor. Every person who supports Ukraine contributes to its survival. But some stories rise above, and while I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kafa’s adapted for the big screen someday, her truth matters now—more than at any future film premiere.
As long as Crimea remains under Russian occupation, her voice, her struggle, and her service are vital. They cut through the noise. And in a world desperate for clarity, that’s more critical than any drone swarm.
Comment from :
Yuri Poloneev
BIGNESS IS NOT GREATNESS
Thanks a lot to Daniel Connery in Ukraine 🇺🇦 for the great post about this truly amazing Ukrainian Hero!
Those who think that it’s possible to defeat and conquer such people with increased production of Iskanders or larger numbers of paid-to-die brainless mercenaries, is fatally mistaken.
The number of Kafas is dozens of thousands, if not millions.
And Kremlin dwarf’s calculus to outwit, outsit, outbomb, outnumber outf..ck up Kafas is doomed to miserable and painful and shameful failure.
Bigness is not Greatness.
Victory is not a number game