A Boy Drone Pilot Brings Down Artillery Strikes Poem by Gert Strydom

A teenager that is a drone pilot
that he used to play with,
helped to destroy a Russian tank and truck convoys
by helping to locate them as they headed to Kiev
by spotting them with a drone.

Andriy Pokrasa, a fifteen year old boy,
who lives on forty kilometres from Kiev
brought down artillery fire
on the convoys by providing
their exact position.

His father got in touch with the military
and told them about Andriy's experience
with drones and that he loved to skateboard
but "he was the only person with
experience of drones in that region.
He is a true hero of the Ukraine, "
Yuri Kasjanov said,
as the commander of the unmanned
reconnaissance

He was told by the Ukrainian army
where they thought an approaching convoy
might be and to try and locate it
with his drone and to send them
the exact GPS coordinates.

Andriy provided the exact coordinates
which resulted in the convoy
coming under intense artillery fire
on the Zitima road
on 24 February 2022.

His father accompanied him into the field
and with his father's tablet they
narrowed down the coordinates more accurate

One of the trucks turned on its lights
for a long time, which helped Andriy
to find the column of approaching vehicles
and he gave the coordinates
and during the attack coordinate specifically
where they should shell
while he communicated with the military unit
with by social media and he was very scared
but did not want the Russians to succeed.

He connected to a territorial defence unit
and his father provided photos as well
and stopped the force near Barazifka
where all of this happened in
five to seven minutes.

For ten days after that initial attack
with a new toy, a military drone,
that the Ukraine gave him,
while he communicated with the military unit
with a walkie-talkie radio,
it was easy for Andriy to get
the coordinates and the range
of the drone was much greater.

The Ukraine destroyed more tanks,
armoured cars and trucks
en route to Kyiv and Andriy helped
the Ukrainian forces
with their attacks on the Russians
before he and his mother was
evacuated to Poland where he is
finishing the school year.
© Gert Strydom