You're described in the Atlantic piece that Russian soldier he was stalked by the Ukrainian drone cruise and taken out, was assigned a point value, and that the crews and at this point in the war, that this is at some level a video game war, in that there are points assigned for various targets and the drone operators are competing with one another to collect points. Talk about that, well.
First of all, this is probably the first generation that could actually wage war this way because they were brought up with these with video games, right. And don't get me wrong, the team I was with was deadly serious about what they were doing. They knew they they were defending their country against a country Russia that wanted to
do horrible things. And during the last trip to Ukraine, I was in Hirson and the Russians still have half of her son and occasionally they still hear from family members on the other side about what the Russians are doing. And make no mistake, their survival is at state, so they're serious about what they're doing. But they're also relatively young. Most of these drone pilots are in their twenties, some even younger than that, and they are incredibly skilled, they
have quick reflexes. They have to be that close to the front. I get this question from Americans all the time. Why don't they operate their drones from another country? Like people might know that when we fly a Predator, the pilot's in Vegas, right he's back home in Nevada. They have to be that close to the front because the reaction time when you're chasing a soldier through the rubble of a bombed out city, the fraction time is the
reaction time has to be in milliseconds. You can't wait for that lag between the satellite uplink and the command and the recommand. So they have to be right up there at the front, and they have to react quickly, and they have to approach the gamification with a degree of seriousness that I just cannot imagine having as a twenty two year old. But to your question about the point system, that is another innovation that America, our war planners,
our Department of War. I'm going to put it in air quote Steve, I think we're very slow to understand just how adaptive the Ukrainians have been and they're able to change the prioritization of targets at the front in an instant It would take the American command structure, you know, maybe weeks to actually change how their soldiers engage targets because it would have to be, you know, an official order, it'd have to be written up, it would have the
culture of that behavior, the habits would have to cascade down. And in Ukraine instead, they've created, for all intensive purposes, a game. They've created a point system to value different kinds of different targets based on what the commanders need hit that day. So if they see infantry massing for a potential assault, suddenly infantrymen go to the top of the point stack if they know that, you know, a new shipment of rocket launchers has arrived. On making this up,
of course, but you get the point. Based on the intel they're receiving and the threats that they're perceiving, they change the value of the targets. It updates a website portal that the drone units check every morning and they decide what they're going to hit that day. On the
day I was embedded with them. Special operators Ukrainian equivalent, sorry, the Russian equivalent of seals, commandos and infantry or at the top of that point list, there were a couple of Russian special operators special forces that crossed the river on jet skis to try to get at our position.
That was a very valuable target that day. And the interesting thing about this point system is it's not just for vanity, although they're very proud of their and forgive me, this is gruesome, but it's war, right, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. They're proud of their kills, as they should be. If I get in trouble for that, I'm not going to apologize. They are proud of what they're doing, and I'm proud to be alongside them as they defend their homeland. As they rack up these points.
Once they get enough, they can literally cash them in for for things that will make life in the trench or life in the bunker just a little easier. They're not cashing them in for explosives or drones, but they can cash them in for a coffee pot, right, they can cash them in for a new pair of combat boots. And trying to imagine the American military approaching something that way, it's inconceivable. Ukrainians are adapting in every way. They can to win this war, and it is humbling to behold.
Who's winning the war can as you see it from the front.
There's no doubt in my mind Ukraine is winning this war,
and I can put metrics to that. But let me just start with the gut reaction I have in spending time with Ukrainians, who, as exhausted as they are, are determined to fight every day for their families and for their homeland, as compared to the Russians who are only in it for the money, who don't follow warders, where desertion is a massive problem, and where their infantry are treated like animals or worse, I bet the Russians don't treat their farm animals the way Russian infantry get treated
as human radar. I know I made that point already, but I want to drive it home. They literally use people to find Ukrainian gun positions and where the bodies pile up, that's where the Ukrainians are. It's appalling and it is a It's a culture of death. At the end of the day. Russia ascribes to this meaningless view of life. It is a country that exists to serve power,
that people exist to serve the government and Ukraine. The government exists to serve the people, and you see that in the lengths they go to to try to protect human life, whether it's in a premie ward in Kiev or at the front Ukraine. Well they'll where they will give a kilometer of territory to shave Ukrainian lives and killed ten thousand Russians in the process.
Ken, of course, you are unable to tell us where you are. For everyone joined. Ken is at the front, in harm's way this evening in Ukraine, where it's seven forty seven pm. Last question I have for you is if you would just take us inside your journey to the front from entering Ukraine from the cities, the degree of normalcy that exists, or maybe better yet, what exists in Ukraine as normal or far from the front, in
this adjusted reality in wartime. But take us through the journey to the to the front, in the change in demeanor, in weariness, in resolve, in defiance. What take us take us inside that that journey across Ukraine to the spot you're in right now.
Yeah, that's a great question and one no one has asked me before. And I will describe my last trip to the Front. But I'll actually relate something from from earlier this trip because I think it. I think it helps set the atmosphere. I had to go when I first got to Kiev on this trip, I had to go to the military supply store to get plates. They're tough to travel with, they're heavy, uh, and my my usual set of plates was borrowed by somebody else, so I had to get new plates for the vest. Right
behind me, I think, yep, and these. While I was at this military store getting those level three plates for the VEST, I would guess half a dozen Ukrainian soldiers with either one or both legs missing or an amputated arm came in to get supplies for their next tour at the front, and all of them have an exception. If you are hurt that way in Ukraine, you have a get out of jail free card. You have a pass to spend the rest of your days with your
family doing whatever you want. And so many of these guys choose to go back to fight because they know that their family survival depends on what happens at the front. In terms of getting to the front, it is kind of a surreal experience. I mean, the first moment that most people realize that there is something serious going on in Ukraine is when you get to Poland and it
is reinforced that you cannot fly into Ukraine. The only planes flying over Ukraine are Russian and Ukrainian helicopters and jets. You do not want to fly in a commercial aircraft over Ukraine, so you either have to walk, drive, or take a train. And I've done all three. The last time was on a train crossing the border to Kiev, and then you on the last trip, I drove down south and the checkpoints get progressively denser and closer together, denser,
meeting more serious, more soldiers there. And when I finally joined up with the drone unit, we did it outside within artillery range, but outside of FPV range or effective FPV range. But that's it's not far before you get within FPV range. And while we were brief.
For the for the people listening, ken FPV, you yeah.
FPV are those first person few drones that are the most effective killers at the front now responsible for the vast majority of casualties. Those are the drones that are piloted remotely and that actually feed a drone's eye view to the pilot, so they see what the Dronese is and they are Kamikazi drones, suicide drones. So they fly into the target and you were literally looking through that drone camera seeing your target, which might be a human
being's face. Get closer and closer and closer into the screen. Got static. We linked up with this drone crew under the awning of a bombed out gas station, brief the mission with nothing but a red pen light to illuminate the map, and then drove through blacked out and ruined city streets at a speed I wouldn't feel comfortable, you know, driving on I ninety five, taking curves on two wheels,
because that's when you're most vulnerable. The Russians are doing what the Ukrainians are doing as well, looking for any movement in that area, and they see that vehicle moving. And then you get to the warren of bombed out buildings and overgrowth and you know, in some cases tunnels, and you have seconds to get out of the vehicle, get in the hole and hide. And I remember the commander of the Ukrainian crew saying when we pull up, don't grab anything, don't grab your bag, don't just get
inside will take care of the rest. And it literally took them a few seconds to unload their gear and get in the hole. And that actually wasn't the tensest moment of that twenty hour mission. It was the X fill thet when you're leaving after you've done your shift, because the assumption is that that entire time, the Russian drone pilots are trying to pinpoint your location and waiting to see movement, waiting to see you emerge. And that was the first time I really thought the guys were scared.
Even when the Russians camera panned over our position and we saw it because we had tapped into their drone feed, they didn't stop their usual banter. But for that X Phil, you can just feel it. There's something in the air, like all joking stopped. We made it from the hide into the truck in a matter of seconds, and sure enough, within probably five or ten seconds of speeding away, the drone detector went off. It starts screaming that there is
a Russian attack drone approaching. And we passed a smoking wreck of a vehicle on our way out that had been hit recently, but that you know, really drove home the point that we were in a war zone.
I'm Steve Schmidt. This is the warning. I invite you to join this community, where I promise to be honest, blunt and direct about what is happening in this country. America is in crisis. Follow and subscribe to this channel and on substack. Thank you.