April 29 (Reuters) - Ukraine is rolling out a new line of defence to protect businesses and critical infrastructure from hundreds of Russian drones darkening its skies night after night: private air defence companies.
Ukraine launched a pilot programme last year allowing industrial firms to establish their own air defence groups to guard their facilities. So far, 20 companies have registered, and two of them are already offering air defence operations, according to the Defence Ministry.
Carmine Sky, one of the companies, says it deploys several layers of protection depending on the need of a specific client, ranging from interceptor drones to automated turrets armed with M2 Browning heavy machine guns.
"It's like an onion, made of layers," said Ruslan, a company representative who provided only his first name for security reasons.
Russia launches thousands of low-cost, long-range attack dronesat Ukraine every month. While most are intercepted, those that get through have wrought havoc on military infrastructure, factories and energy facilities, depriving millions of people of heating and lighting last winter.
Ruslan spoke to Reuters at a control room where Carmine Sky's employees monitor for Russian drones. Operators reclined in padded chairs, their fingers resting lightly on gamepads as they search for targets. The room itself was dim, its walls draped with masking nets.
The company operates in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region as well as other regions, Ruslan said, without specifying which. He declined to identify any of the firm's clients.
"We are only complementing the traditional state air defence model," Ruslan said. "State air defence has a more strategic role, while we are local."
PART OF AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM
The firms must receive authorisation by the Ministry of Defence before starting operations and are incorporated into the Ukrainian air force's command-and-control system.
"Targets and the decision to open fire is made solely by them," said Ruslan. "We cannot do so on our own."
Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov touted early successes last month, saying Russian drones had been shot down in the Kharkiv region by an unnamed private firm. And on April 17, he said a private air defence unit had downed a jet-powered Shahed drone.
To be hired, civilian recruits must pass a rigorous vetting process, including a polygraph test, which is then repeated every quarter, Ruslan said.
Roman Korzh from Gvardiia, another firm offering air defence services, said training a drone interceptor pilot from scratch takes around three weeks for someone with no prior experience. Those who do not qualify as pilots are absorbed into crews as spotters or technicians.
Gvardiia's main recruitment pool is existing volunteer air defence formations, which already have combat experience.
"The volunteer units are, as they say, our backbone," said Korzh, who is responsible for training.
Duty schedules are flexible, allowing recruits to organize their shifts around civilian jobs, if needed.
(Reporting by Anna Voitenko and Vitalii Hnidyi, additional reporting by Max Hunder, writing by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Edward Tobin)
