The "Magyar Birds" drone pilot Brovdi had the money to flee, he became a legend instead

A new opinion piece examines wartime motivation and the myth of unanimous patriotism, using the example of Ukrainian drone unit "Magyar Birds" pilot Brovdi as a case study. The author, Oleg Samorodni, draws parallels between Soviet-era propaganda about World War II unity and the complex realities of why people fight, or don't, in any war. He argues that in every major conflict, it is a passionate minority that drives events, while the majority waits to see how things unfold.

The story of a Ukrainian drone pilot known as Brovdi, who flew combat missions over Moscow with the "Magyar Birds" unit, offers a striking lens through which to examine one of war's most enduring myths: that nations rise as one to defend their homeland.

Soviet myth vs. wartime reality

Writing for Reflect.ee, analyst Oleg Samorodni challenges the old Soviet narrative, still remembered by many, that during the Second World War, Soviet citizens unanimously united to defend their socialist motherland. That, he argues, was just another Soviet lie. Millions of Soviet citizens, the majority of them Russians, actually fought on the side of Nazi Germany.

While some did volunteer for the Red Army, Samorodni notes that the vast majority of its soldiers were conscripts. There is nothing unusual about that, he writes, in every war, as in every revolution or major social upheaval, it is a so-called "passionate minority" that plays the active role. The larger part of any population watches from a distance, waiting to see how things end before joining the winning side or retreating into private life.

The weight of circumstance

The author's central argument is that most people are drawn into wars and upheavals not by personal conviction, but either by state coercion or simply by the force of circumstances, without any overt compulsion, yet without any real choice either.

Against this backdrop, the case of Brovdi stands out. A member of the Ukrainian "Magyar Birds" drone unit, which has carried out attacks targeting Moscow, Brovdi reportedly had sufficient financial means to flee the country and avoid the war entirely. Instead, he chose to stay and fight, ultimately becoming a legend within the unit.

What makes a fighter

The piece uses Brovdi's story as a counterpoint to the deterministic view of wartime participation. Where most are swept along by events, a few make a deliberate and costly choice to engage. It is precisely this minority, Samorodni suggests, that shapes the outcome of conflicts, not the mobilised masses, but the individuals who could have walked away and didn't.

The commentary raises questions that resonate beyond Ukraine: what motivates people to risk everything when escape is possible, and why do societies tend to mythologise collective bravery while downplaying the coercion and passivity that underpin most wartime participation?