WHEN:

WHERE:

154 Holland Park Ave, London W11 4UH

Admission:

Language:

The talk will be held in Ukrainian (with possibility to ask questions in English).

Maria will meet Ukrainian community and talk about her project in Ukraine.

Maria Berlinska is 26. She is historian, but last autumn she went to the front as a volunteer. In war, she learned to operate drones, she worked in several Ukrainian military units. And when she returned back to Kyiv she opened airborne prospecting Support Center (Ukrainian Centre for Drone Intelligence).

“There are two global problems in our army, the lack of specialists and lack of equipment,” Maria Berlinska, founder of the airborne prospecting Support Center

Maria believes that every unit must have UAVs. If troops want to change location, they just raise the drone and see what lies ahead. Also drones are indispensable for adjusting the fire. Drones give the picture and it is not only the information on the tactical situation, it records the facts of Russian aggression, and most importantly – drones save lives of the soldiers.

“Often volunteers collect money for drones for the army, send them to the front, just as a body armour. But there is no one who knows how to operate drones there, and they brake down during the first flight. That is why we have opened these courses,» she said.

The whole training course lasts three weeks, all for free. The school has 10 coaches, most of them with military experience, like Maria. Now first group of students graduates airborne prospecting Support Center. Volunteer school provides not just knowledge to the soldiers, but also seeks funding for the purchase of drones for the army.

According to experts, volunteers make a huge contribution to the development and support of the Ukrainian army. They communicate with the military, who are in the zone of conflict and know exactly their needs.

Why the drones are needed (video in Ukrainian)

Watch more videos about the school here

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Sources of information:

Ukrainian volunteers have reached a new level of support for the army By Alex Statko for Southeast European Times in Kyiv

Eyes of the War at LB.ua (photo credit Max Trebukhov)