Dmytro Putiata is a drone warfare expert who served in several units in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, he was an entrepreneur and wrote several case studies on battles from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and co-wrote In The Ring Of Fire: Defense Of Luhansk Airport. He also contributed to the Oryx open-source intelligence website. He joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces in April 2022 and initially served in the Special Operations Forces 7th Regiment. He began as a Mavic drone pilot serving in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions during Russia’s offensive in the spring and summer of 2022. In the fall, he took part in Ukraine’s successful Kharkiv offensive.

Dmytro then served in the strike drone company of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade where he defended along the Avdiivka front during Russia’s winter offensive. He then served in an analytical detachment as part of the General Staff before returning to the 36th Marine Brigade during Russia’s 2024 Kharkiv offensive. His brigade fought in the Vovchansk direction before fighting in Russia’s Kursk region during the winter of 2024-2025. Since 2025, he has served in the Unmanned Systems Forces’ 20th “K2” Unmanned Systems Brigade, fighting in the Lyman direction of Donetsk region. In K2, he organized the brigade’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drone flights and served as a battle captain in the command post. He also managed the employment of heavy bomber drones in one of K2’s battalions.