The Ukrainian Stunt Pilot Hunting Russian Drones

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Slipkan told Air Force recruiters he could fly a fighter jet, but they said he was too old. He became an infantryman in the Territorial Defense Forces. For three months he served outside Mykolaiv, near the Black Sea, and completed two ten-day rotations. Much to his frustration, he did not participate in any battles.

In August 2022, Slipkan borrowed a Yak-52 – an aerobatic aircraft – and, with a door gunner, began searching for Russian reconnaissance drones. They conducted periodic flights for nine months but did not hit any targets, partly because it was very difficult to locate the drones at night. When he met Fatkullin, the two men realized they shared the ambition to drive out the Shaheds and decided to team up. Slipkan told Fatkullin that a businessman he knew from his years in Africa lent him an Antonov-28 that had been used for parachuting before the war. Slipkan admired Fatkullin’s piloting skills and told me that, just as some swimmers feel more comfortable in the water, “Timur feels better in the sky.”

The admiration was mutual. Fatkullin loved hearing Slipkan’s stories about his Soviet missions aboard fighter planes. And Fatkullin was deeply moved when he learned that Slipkan had personally suffered during the war. In September 2022, his son was killed on the front line, in circumstances that are still almost impossible for him to talk about. Slipkan told me recently: “Everything that I can no longer give to my son, I give to Timur and the guys. »

For a year, the two men asked Ukrainian military authorities to let them form a unit to take down the Shaheds. At the same time, drone attacks against Ukraine have increased. But, according to Fatkullin, no one in a high-ranking defense position wanted to take responsibility for the unit. Finally, in June 2025, the necessary documents were signed, after Fatkullin and Slipkan agreed to be responsible if they caused an accident or shot down a drone over a populated area. Technically, the group would be a volunteer unit of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, but under the operational control of the Air Force. Officially, the unit was called Air Defense Group. Privately, Ukrainians called it Aerotim.

One of the first people Fatkullin contacted was motorcycle daredevil Serhii Gusak. Gusak, a pacifist, had led the war in accordance with his principles. For the first year, he provided humanitarian aid to kyiv and eastern Ukraine on behalf of charities. He also welded parts for a company making interceptor drones that the Ukrainians used to target Russian reconnaissance planes. But he wanted to find a more active way to defend his country. He planned to train as a medical evacuation officer for wounded combatants.

Cartoon by Roz Chast

Fatkullin’s call was a relief. Joining the unit would allow Gusak to protect the Ukrainians without having blood on his hands. (Fatkullin told me his friend “doesn’t want to kill Russians,” adding, “I don’t have that problem.”) Fatkullin proposed that Gusak become his door gunner, shooting drones with a minigun. The job was perilous, as the door gunner would be more exposed to shrapnel than the rest of the crew, but Gusak accepted the role. He received two days of training from a former military officer on the handling and maintenance of the weapon.