Judge Mikhail Odaryuk (photo: RBC-Ukraine) Author: Katerina Goncharova
Together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian cities are protected by people who work their main jobs during the day and take up duty in volunteer units in the evening. In particular, they monitor the movement of ” Shaheds ” and help shoot them down. How this happens is in the material of RBC-Ukraine journalist Katerina Goncharova.
For two years now, the sky over Kyiv has been protected by Mykhailo Odaryuk, a judge from Kharkiv. Because of the war, he was forced to leave his job as a judge in Izyum when the Russians came close to the city in 2022.
Now he works in the Irpen City Court and goes on duty every week, changing his judge's robe for a military uniform. He is far from the only judge in the volunteer formation “Mriya”. The unit was created at one time by a retired judge who united colleagues around a common idea. After undergoing training, people of different professions hunt for “Shaheds”: librarians, managers, rehabilitation specialists.
RBC-Ukraine visited the judge's usual place of work and the volunteers' positions and tells how Judge Mikhail Odaryuk, together with his brothers-in-arms, stands guard over the Kyiv sky.
Evacuation from Kharkov and work in Irpen
Before the Great War, Judge Mikhail Odaryuk worked in Izyum in the Kharkiv region. He was the head of the court, and when his term of office ended, he worked as an ordinary judge. On the first day of the Russian invasion, the court's work was suspended: the occupiers were quickly approaching the Izyum district.
Mikhail returned to his native Kharkov, where he lived with his wife and two sons. He planned to enlist as a volunteer and defend Kharkov. On the day when Mikhail and his colleague were about to join the army, an enemy missile landed in the building where the military headquarters was located at the time.
“There was a lot of tragedy in this,” Mikhail recalls in a conversation with RBC-Ukraine. “That same night, we decided that we had to leave. We went to Western Ukraine and waited until I could be assigned to another court.”
At first, he expected to be able to work in Kharkov or Kyiv. But he was refused. After some time, he was offered the position of a seconded judge in Irpen. He agreed, and now also holds the position of deputy head of the court. Two more seconded judges work with him: from Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region and from the Zolochiv district of the Kharkov region. All courts in the combat zone and nearby, says Mikhail, have suspended their activities.
Judges from Izyum were also sent to work in different regions of Ukraine. As well as from those cities that also suffered from Russian aggression.
“The Izyum court has not resumed its work yet either. Firstly, the repairs are very expensive, because two bombs hit the premises, and the courtrooms were destroyed too. Secondly, everything that allowed work to be done was stolen,” he says.
After moving from Kharkov, Mikhail Odaryuk works in the Irpen City Court
Two years protecting the sky of Kyiv
In March 2023, particularly active raids by “Shaheds” on Kyiv, the region and other regions began, Mikhail recalls. He tried to find out how he could join the defense of the city.
“You understand that you have finished your work – you seem to be working, you seem to be doing something useful, but still something is missing. There is a lack of protection of the homeland. It is good that there is a formation of a territorial community. I found out the conditions, and that an official contract must be signed. I did not want it to be some kind of unofficial institution that somehow has weapons and you do not know what your responsibility is for this. The contract is for three years. I signed it, looked, it is quite normal,” the judge says.
Now he is glad that he has the opportunity to participate in such a unit and, in addition to his main job, to be useful in the defense of the state. “And for two years now we have also been protecting the skies of Kyiv, the Kyiv region from the raids of the “Shaheds”, – says Mikhail.
Who is hunting for “Shaheds” in DFTG
Volunteer units can be created by territorial communities, and their activities are controlled by the Armed Forces. The DFTGs are subordinate to the military command.
From time to time, some DFTGs are disbanded, some of the servicemen transfer to other units. Some transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But mostly, well-coordinated teams remain, which are already accustomed to working together and understand each other. This is also important for effective drone shooting down: everyone must work together and harmoniously.
To join the volunteer units, you must pass a selection interview, and if you pass, several weeks of training. Without special courses, you are not allowed to start on duty.
Max in civilian life is a rehabilitation specialist and trainer
“You need to undergo appropriate training, a training camp, where they teach you how to shoot, move correctly, and identify targets. Because “Shaheds” are a target that moves at a fairly high speed,” Odaryuk notes.
People of completely different professions are on duty with him at the DFTG. Some are already retired. There are lawyers, representatives of other state bodies and institutions who want to help in the defense of the country.
In civilian life, Max is involved in rehabilitation and trains people. In the past, he also worked in film directing. He says that he decided to help shoot down “Shaheds” because of a tragic event – a child died from a “Shahed” in Kiev.
“It made me realize that if life allowed me to be here now, I have to do something. That's why I'm doing it – destroying the Shaheds. Because I don't want to see children die,” the man says.
Irina Akimova is an English teacher by education. She works as a library director in the village of Kotsyubinskoe near Kiev. After work, she, like Mikhail, puts on a military uniform and goes on night duty. She has been doing this for two years now.
Irina Akimova works as the director of the library in Kotsiubynske in the Kyiv region
“My child, my son, is now in the Donetsk region (in the Armed Forces of Ukraine – ed.). I really want to help him and those brothers, but I can't be there, so I'm here. I'm doing what I can on my own, protecting the Kiev sky. My son respects this decision very much, but he's very worried and says: “We'll manage here.” But my soul asks for this, I can't! If I can help here with something, and for now I can, then I do it. He's there, I'm here,” the woman says about her motivation.
There is also a guy on duty with them who works as a pharmacist. On night shifts, he works with a tablet that has a special program that detects enemy drones.
“My job is to identify them and then report to my brothers-in-arms where they are flying. But it's all very secret. So please, if a Shahed is flying, be very careful,” he says.
A pharmacist also serves with the group of volunteers.
Their colleague Evgeny signed a contract with another DFTG back in 2022, and then transferred to Mriya.
“What was most important to me was to protect the sovereignty of my country, to be useful for the victory of our country. At present, we already have a close-knit team, everyone knows each other, we are all already a well-coordinated team, a fighting unit,” the man says.
The Mriya DFTG was founded by a retired judge. Perhaps that is why it turned out that most of the volunteers are judges.
“These are specialists from courts of different jurisdictions, different specializations: appellate, cassation, judges of the Supreme Court. There are judges from the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, who are also on duty full-time. There are from tax authorities, from the police. They are also not subject to mobilization either due to age or health, but they want to somehow help the country in defense,” says Odaryuk.
Evgeniy has been serving in volunteer formations since 2022
“We must make a wall of fire.” How the shifts are going
Six people take up positions each time. Each has his own weapon. The fighters know about 2-3 hours in advance in which direction the “Shaheds” are flying and when they can theoretically reach their point. This helps to be prepared in advance.
“We all open fire together if we see a target. That is, we have to create a certain wall of fire to hit the drone, so that it starts falling and falls in a place safe for people,” says Mikhail.
The position where the guys are on duty is stationary (not mobile). From here they open fire when ready “one”. Usually one fighter must be on duty one day a week. However, there are different options. The position is within the city of Kyiv, so the volunteers must be responsible for where they shoot.
“Drones don't just fly in groups. They fly in groups of 10, 12, and then they fly apart, and you don't understand at what point they might reach your position. The radius in which we can open fire is limited. There is a clear prohibition – we cannot shoot backwards, because there are residential buildings there. We must minimize the risk so that there is no damage to their health or property. We categorically do not shoot in the direction of houses,” the judge adds.
Before going on duty, all volunteers undergo special training.
The duty takes place at night – from 8 pm to 8 am. During an alarm in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, all instructions are given by an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“There are three types of readiness: 1, 2, 3. “Three” – we collect all our things, we can rest. Readiness “two” – we are all in position, ready for “number one”. And readiness “number one” is when you can and are allowed to shoot without an additional order. Having certain technical means and understanding where and how the enemy target is moving, we stand and wait so that we can open fire and hit the target,” he explains.
The alarm, notifications about which come in “Kyiv Digital” or other applications – does not actually concern the military. They have their own means that allow them to calculate the movement of enemy targets and give the order to shoot.
Recently, “Shaheds” fly to Kyiv very often. They have to stay up all night, because the alarm can start late in the evening and last almost until the morning. While on duty, the fighters may not have time to take a nap.
What do they do with downed Shaheds ?
In the event of a drone being shot down, fighters have a duty to write a report and send it to the duty officer. There is a center that collects this information and information about where the drone is flying. There are standards, there are regulations that must be followed.
“There is a very clear algorithm of what you have to do: film it, prepare reports. Maybe you shoot for 5 seconds, and then fill out documents for two hours,” the judge notes.
Recently, one of the drones fell right near the position where the guys are on duty. Mikhail's brother Alexey shows a bag in which they collected the wreckage of one of the “Shaheds” that was shot down at their post.
“It was a Shahed with a live charge. It was hit with machine guns and they drove to the crash site. These fragments will be transferred to the main headquarters for study and analysis of this item,” the man explains.
To help defend Kyiv, Mykhailo Odaryuk was looking for an official community. He found DFTG and signed a three-year contract
The downed drone fell 70 meters from the place where the guys were on duty that night. Luckily, everyone managed to escape, but the explosion was literally next to them. Mikhail says he saw a video of the downing itself.
“It's a scary video. What saved them was the building between them. It was small, but it was able to cover everything, and no one was hurt,” he says.
Do they get a salary at DFTG?
The word “voluntary” is voluntary in all aspects, says Mikhail Odaryuk. Volunteer formations do not pay salaries. And money is not at all what people come to serve for.
“We bought the uniform ourselves. They give you weapons, you don't have to buy cartridges, they give you everything. But you go to the training ground at your own expense. The state provides everything at the training ground itself. But no one pays you for it. And we don't expect to, to be honest. In fact, the goal was never to get money for it,” he notes.
The judge once heard that there was a proposal to disband the DFTG.
“There was a people's deputy, Andrey Kozhemyakin, in our DFTG. He said: “Wait, they don't receive funds. They leave voluntarily. They expose themselves to danger, they try to do something better. Why disband it?” he asks.
Volunteers of the Mriya DFTG at their permanent position where they hunt for “Shaheds” during their shifts
He says he receives a judge's salary from his main job.
“But if I worked and received a salary at work, then what should those who serve in the DFTG do and do not receive money? What should they live on? They protect us, but do not receive anything. We also have people of retirement age who receive a small pension. And how to get there, and buy a uniform? This is all the money. We periodically initiate this issue within the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv city government. But so far there are no visible results in this direction,” Odaryuk notes.
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Ukrainians continue to prove once again that defending the country is not a matter for some profession, but our common task. Volunteer formations have long been part of the Defense Forces, and their example shows that you can defend the country regardless of whether you are a judge, a librarian, or a rehabilitation specialist.