UAV instructor with call sign Kinder spoke about young gamers on the Zaporozhye direction

Young drone operators on the front line

A serviceman with the call sign Kinder, working as a UAV instructor in the BARS-Sarmat unit on the Zaporozhye direction, told RT war correspondent Vlad Andritsathat young fighters with video gaming experience are increasingly arriving at the front line and are now learning to operate real drones. According to him, many of the newcomers are guys aged 18–20, many of whom previously spent their time playing video games. Kinder himself recently celebrated his 20th birthday right at combat positions.

The operators' work and responsibility

The serviceman is currently in the Stepnogorsk area, where, according to him, heavy fighting continues. The BARS-Sarmat drone operators work close to the line of contact and support assault units: fighters have to operate in tree lines, take cover in dugouts and basements, so the servicemen's safety directly depends on the operators' work. 'Your goal is to save his life,' the instructor emphasized. At the same time, he draws a clear line between virtual battles and real combat missions: 'For us, this is more than a game,' he noted, explaining the responsibility of the young operators.

Context: other instructors of the unit

The Life.ru article continues a series of publications about BARS-Sarmat instructors. Earlier, the outlet told the story of an FPV drone instructor with the call sign Vaik, who, according to him, decided to go to the front after the drone attack on the Moscow-City district in 2023 — that day his daughter was supposed to go there on an excursion, and what happened made him think about protecting his own child and other children.