Investigative journalists have de-anonymized Russian commanders responsible for targeted drone attacks on civilians in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

This is reported in an investigation by the Television Toronto media project.

The journalists examined Telegram channels that frequently post footage of drone drops on civilians—”Viking Squad,” “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” “Moses,” “From Mariupol to the Carpathians”—and identified the commanders responsible for these war crimes.

The journalists note that the residents of the Kherson region suffer the most from drone terror, but the phenomenon has become so widespread that the Russians have started using drones against civilian targets along the entire front line.

In particular, in the Zaporizhzhia region, where the “Viking Squad” operates. Thanks to the symbolism used by this unit, journalists were able to determine that it is part of the 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, based in the Aksaysky District of the Rostov region.

After analyzing photographs, correspondence, and leaked Russian databases, it was determined that the unit commander is Yegor Vladimirovich Afanaskinkov, born in 1984.

It is reported that he is registered at the address 76 B Khoroshevskoye Shosse – the address of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2006, he graduated from the Cherepovets Military University of Radioelectronics with a degree in “Radio Engineering.”

One of the channels specializing in the terror of Kherson – “Light at the End of the Tunnel” – belongs to the reconnaissance units of the 8th Artillery Regiment, based in Crimea, in the village of Perevalne. The channel is run by a person with the call sign Malakhit, who is also the unit commander. Journalists have determined that this call sign belongs to Sergey Viktorovych Iordan, born in 1983.

He reportedly graduated from the Omsk Tank School and participated in the Chechen War. After the start of the full-scale invasion, he joined the invasion military and is fighting in the Kherson direction.

He not only commands the unit but also trains other pilots and commanders. According to Malakhit, one of his best students is another war criminal with the call sign Moses, who runs the eponymous channel and is considered by the Russians to be one of the best drone operators in the Russian military.

Like his “mentor,” Moses’s unit also regularly attacked civilian residents in the Kherson region while stationed in this area. “Moses” is the only one who does not hide his identity. Behind this call sign is 28-year-old Eduard Teost from the city of Biysk. In March 2022, he joined the Russian military along with his brothers and later became part of the 8th Artillery Regiment.

The last channel investigated by the journalists, “From Mariupol to the Carpathians,” is run by “Uncle Sasha.” His identity had previously been de-anonymized by journalists from the Kherson media “Kavun-City.” The criminal turned out to be Oleksandr Sheptura – a collaborator and former head of the criminal investigation department in the Donetsk region.

47-year-old Oleksandr Sheptura was born in the Donetsk region. He worked in the police, and in 2013, he became the head of the criminal investigation department in Donetsk. After the city was occupied, he sided with the Russians. Since 2015, in the so-called “DPR,” Sheptura headed the organized crime unit – a structure that, after the full-scale invasion, was responsible for the network of torture chambers in the region. Sheptura’s name appeared in several reports about the abduction and torture of people in occupied Donetsk.

He is also believed to be involved in the Russian terrorist attack at the Olenivka penitentiary in July 2022. Sheptura was the so-called deputy minister of internal affairs of the so-called “DPR.” Since 2022, he has been a suspect in several criminal cases.

It is reported that during the full-scale invasion, he served in the 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade until he suffered a traumatic amputation of part of his foot during the fighting in the Kherson region. This brigade is known for the fact that it was the soldiers of the 205th Brigade of the Russian Federation who blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in June 2023.

Terror in Kherson

In 2024, Russian invaders struck the Kherson region one and a half times more often than in 2023, reported Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration.

In particular, in 2024, the Russian invaders fired 218 thousand shells at the Kherson region, which is 63% more than a year earlier. In 2024, 2187 people were injured or killed by Russian shelling. And since August 2024, the Russians have been using drones to attack civilians on a massive scale. Thus, from August to the end of 2024, almost 12,000 attacks by enemy UAVs were carried out, which ended the lives of 54 people, and another 609, including eight children, were injured.

In January 2025, 154 residents of Kherson were injured by Russian shelling, and 16 were killed. In February, 13 civilians were killed, and 113 others were injured.