Rob Lee

Last month, I interviewed Lieutenant Colonel Vladyslav "Shram" Tovstyi, the commander of the 38th Marine Brigade's (@38obrmp) Corsair UAS Battalion for the Ukraine Military Podcast.

(00:00) Introduction
(03:35) The background of the Corsair Battalion
(04:40) What is the current situation and the effect of weather on the battlefield
(06:50) Russian tactics
(08:25) Assessment of Russia's Rubicon Center
(09:35) Effect of Russia scaling its unmanned systems forces
(10:45) What was the effect when Russia lost access to Starlink?
(11:20) What effect is Ukraine's Middle Strike campaign having on the front line?
(13:43) Urban warfare in Myrnohrad vs fighting for tree lines
(16:20) Role of fiber optic cable FPVs and what is the ratio of fiber optic to radio signal FPVs from both sides?
(19:35) Use of Starlink on FPVs and heavy bomber drones
(20:55) Accuracy of fiber optic cable and radio signal FPVs and how many FPVs are used per day
(25:15) The role of tall buildings in drone warfare
(26:45) UGV and UAS logistics
(29:10) How many heavy bomber drones do you lose per week and what are the typical missions?
(30:30) How many UGV missions are conducted per day and how many UGVs do you lose?
(32:09) Assessment of the E-points system
(34:15) What is the structure of your UAS Battalion?
(35:00) What lessons should other militaries draw from this war about drone warfare?
(37:15) What effect would another Russian mobilization have on the war?
(39:40) How many Molniya and FPV do you face per day?
youtube.com/watch?v=Kt2N-W…

“Over 600,000 consumers in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast have been left without electricity following Russian attacks on the power system on the morning of 8 November.

Source: DTEK, the largest private energy company in Ukraine; Oleksandr Hanzha, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration

Quote from Hanzha: ‘Over 600,000 consumers have been left without electricity in the Dnipro, Kamianske, Samar, Pavlohrad and Synelnykove districts due to enemy attacks on the power system.’”
pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/…

“The number of people killed in the Russian strike on the settlement of Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 2 November has risen to 53.”
pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/…

The commander of Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade Shamil Krutkov will become the deputy commander of the Ground Forces. Notably, General Syrsky was in the process of removing Krutkov from brigade command before he was replaced. General Drapaty not only stopped his relief but is now promoting him. @dianabutsko
hromadske.ua/amp/viyskovi/2…

“The bodies of 42 Ukrainians have been recovered from the rubble in the village of Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, with 33 more people still missing as of Nov. 5, three days after Russian forces attacked the settlement with heavy aerial bombs, the National Police said.

With the final death toll yet to be officially established, the strike on the front-line village is already one of the deadliest single Russian attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion four and a half years ago.

Russian forces struck Komyshuvakha several times with aerial bombs on the morning of Nov. 2, initially hitting a school building where local residents had gathered to receive humanitarian aid. One of the bombs was a 3-ton FAB-3000, which contains more than 1,000 kilograms of explosives and has a blast radius of up to 250 meters.”
kyivindependent.com/42-bodies-reco…