Ukrainian drone commanders operating the heavy-lift “Baba Yaga” night bombers have inflicted an estimated £12.5billion in damage on Russian forces, according to a former advisor to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. The drone takes its nickname from Baba Yaga, the infamous, bone-legged ogress of Slavic folklore who lives in a hut on chicken legs, flies in a mortar, and is known for kidnapping and eating children.

In a newly released interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon shared by Anton Gerashchenko, Colonel Pavlo Yelizarov, commander of the elite “Lazar’s Group” strike-drone unit within the National Guard, revealed the sheer terror his machines inspire among Russian troops. Mr Gordon said: “You’ve created a unique drone that Russian occupiers fear most. The very name of this drone sows fear and panic. They named this drone Baba Yaga.”

Colonel Yelizarov confirmed the Slavic folklore has taken on a terrifying life of its own on the battlefield.

Colonel Yelizarov explained: “When we were working near Kreminna, we constantly heard in intercepted conversations ‘the drone stole a soldier, a soldier has gone missing.’ There were different legends going around. Some soldiers went AWOL and everyone blamed it on the Baba Yaga drone which carried them away somewhere.”

The commander explained that the psychological impact is no accident.

Colonel Yelizarov admitted: “Well, it’s really scary. When it flies, it feels like helicopters. At first they always wrote, ‘A helicopter attack from the Ukrainian side has begun.’ And when you’re summering in the forest and a machine like that is hovering and rumbling above you, it’s scary.”

The Baba Yaga – typically a large hexacopter or octocopter – can haul payloads heavy enough to “impress any sceptic,” Colonel Yelizarov said, and is “constantly being improved.” Operating mainly at night, the drones drop modified munitions, conduct remote mining, and hunt high-value targets deep behind Russian lines.

Mr. Gerashchenko, who published the clip, claims the wider Ukrainian drone programme has destroyed or damaged equipment worth £12.5 billion since the full-scale invasion.

This figure includes tanks, artillery, air-defence systems, and logistics hubs he said have been obliterated by both these heavy bombers and swarms of smaller FPV craft.

Far from keeping their expertise secret, Colonel Yelizarov stressed that Kyiv is openly sharing lessons with NATO partners.

Colonel Yelizarov said: “Not only Americans. Many NATO states, the top 10 advanced countries, come and learn.

“We explain what we are doing… They support us with weapons, money and vehicles, and we cannot say ‘guys, we won’t teach you, this is only for ourselves.’ No, of course we explain and show everything to them. They also need to be prepared.”

The disclosure underscores Ukraine’s transformation into what defence analysts now call the world’s leading laboratory for drone warfare.

Western officers who once arrived to train Ukrainians frequently leave as students, taking home blueprints for cheap, scalable systems that have neutralised Russia’s traditional advantages in armour and artillery.