Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces struck a Russian drone pilot training center in Snizhne, occupied Donetsk Oblast, on the night of May 19-20, killing 65 Sever-Akhmat cadets and the facility's commander. The operation, named "Snow for Akhmat" (Snizhne means "snowy" in Ukrainian), used 11 attack drones armed with 100kg warheads to destroy a two-story, 2,484-square-meter compound that housed UAV assembly lines, warhead production facilities, and the personnel who operated them.
The Target
The facility was run by the 78th Sever-Akhmat Special Purpose Regiment, part of the 42nd Division of the Russian Armed Forces. The regiment carries the name of Akhmat Kadyrov, founder of the Chechen forces that have fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine since 2022.
The compound's head, identified only by the alias "Buryi," held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was a doctor of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences. His role was not frontline combat. His job was producing more drone operators for Russia's war machine. He died in the strike along with the cadets he was training.
The building was more than a classroom. The two-story structure contained UAV assembly facilities, warhead production lines, and barracks where personnel slept. Ukraine's Security Service confirmed the main compound was destroyed along with ammunition stores in the basement.
The Operation
The attack was planned by the Deep Strike Center of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and carried out jointly with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The 1st Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces executed the strike. Eleven drones with 100kg warheads hit the compound in a coordinated sequence overnight.
Brigadier General Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, confirmed the outcome. Russia had been operating three drone pilot academies in temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast. After Snizhne, it has two.
"Russia had three such academies in temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast. Now they have two." — Brigadier General Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, Ukraine Unmanned Systems Forces
Why This Strike Matters
Russia has made drone warfare central to its strategy in Ukraine, deploying waves of Shahed-type kamikaze drones against Ukrainian cities and front-line positions. In the past week alone, Russian forces launched more than 8,900 kamikaze drone attacks against Ukrainian positions across the country.
Ukraine has been methodically targeting the infrastructure behind that campaign: drone factories inside Russia, supply chains, and now the training academies that produce the operators who fly them. Destroying cadets before they reach the front lines removes capacity Russia will have to rebuild from scratch, in a facility it will have to locate, staff, and protect somewhere else in occupied territory.
The strike fits a documented trend. Russia lost more territory in Ukraine than it gained during April 2026, the first such reversal since Ukraine's summer 2023 counteroffensive. That momentum has continued into May, with Russian forces registering a net loss of nearly 69 square miles in the four weeks from April 21 to May 19. Ukraine's drone forces are central to how Kyiv sustains that pressure without matching Russia's manpower numbers.
According to Brovdi, two drone academies remain operational in occupied Donetsk Oblast. The Ukrainian military knows where they are.
Sources
- Ukraine Wipes Out 65 Akhmat Cadets in Deep Strike on Russian Drone Training Hub — UNITED24 Media
- Ukrainian Forces Destroy Russian Drone Operator Training Centre in Donetsk Oblast: 65 Soldiers Confirmed Killed — Ukrainska Pravda
- USF: Akhmat Snow Special Operation Destroys Pilot Training School, 65 Enemy Cadets — Interfax Ukraine
- Ukraine Strikes Deep in Donetsk, Reports 65 Russian Sever-Akhmat Cadets Killed — Defence Express
- Ukrainian Drone Strike Kills 65 Russian Cadets — New Voice of Ukraine
- Ukraine Claims It Killed Scores of Russians in Two Strikes in Occupied Eastern Region — CNN
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