Anton Vydra, one of Russia’s top UAV operators, known by the call sign "Mossad," has been killed by the Ukrainian military. Surprisingly, he once served in the Israeli army and could have obtained an Israeli passport, but chose to fight and die for Russia in Ukraine. The news of his death was reported by the Russian news outlet "Vot Tak".

The death of this "MGU philosophy student" was reported public on September 26. Vydra was involved in drone operations for the "Ghost" brigade, which was established in the occupied Luhansk region. He was 26 years old. Vydra initially enrolled in a university but soon sought adventure, dropping out to move to Israel. He served in the Israeli Air Force for two years and eight months as an aircraft technician, purportedly maintaining American heavy fighters, the F-15.

After his service in Israel, he decided that the country wasn’t for him and returned to Russia in 2021, enrolling in the philosophy faculty at Moscow State University (MSU). When the war broke out, he felt compelled to join the Russian military. "He had also an Israeli passport. Dual citizenship. But he specifically went to the embassy to renounce his Israeli citizenship—he identified himself as Russian in this situation," detailed one of his MSU professors during a session aimed at "strengthening the pan-Russian civic identity."

In 2014, Vydra joined the "Ghost" brigade — an illegal paramilitary unit formed in the Luhansk region because he had a contact serving there. Vydra worked as an engineer and pilot in an FPV squad. His comrades nicknamed him "Mossad."

Reports indicate that Anton Vydra was killed near Chasiv Yar by a Ukrainian FPV drone strike.

  War in Ukraine, Russia, drone

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