Before Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olexsandr, 32, had been an IT guy at a logistics company. “Flextronics company,” he says. “I think you know it because we have a big warehouse in, let me remember, not so far from Manchester: Warrington. I haven’t been.”
Today, Olexsandr’s reputation is not built on his skills in fixing software glitches for a multinational company, but on a kill tally that makes him perhaps Ukraine’s deadliest kamikaze drone pilot on the frontline. “I haven’t met anyone who has destroyed more,” he reluctantly admits.