Sadovyi criticised the military for failing to shoot down the "Shaheds": the commander of the SBS "Madyar" responded

Following the arrival of "Shahed" drones over the city, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi publicly criticised the effectiveness of the efforts to shoot down enemy drones. In response, Robert ("Madyar") Brovdi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), issued a statement.

Here is what Sadovyi and “Madyar” actually said.

What Sadovyi said

Speaking to journalists, the mayor of Lviv stated that he had “a great many questions” following the massive drone attack on the city, which left dozens of people injured.

“I have a great many questions for everyone. Because we, as a city, buy drones every day, we buy anti-drone systems. We buy everything we’re asked for and hand it over. We spend the lion’s share of the city’s budget on supporting the military. So, I think there are many questions for everyone. My task now is to save people, to ensure they have somewhere to stay overnight, and that hospitals provide quality care. We will do this,” said Sadovyi.

"Madyar’s" response

The Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces called on the city’s leader to stop such rhetoric. He emphasised that no air defence system in the world is capable of providing 100% protection against massive attacks, but Ukrainian defenders are demonstrating exceptional performance.

“Mr Mayor of the beloved city of Lviv! I’m sorry, but please stop with that evening rebuke or customer complaint of yours: ‘I have so many questions for everyone, we’ll have a chat with the military, we buy every day…’ Please stop, for goodness’ sake,” wrote “Madyar” on his Telegram channel.

He also added that despite the existing challenges and the need to improve defences, the statistics on the destruction of enemy targets remain unprecedented.

"15 out of 556 drones today (referring to 24 March – ed.) reached their targets. 3%...No joke – there is no air defence system on the planet Earth that, through the hands of our soldiers deep within the echelons and lines from the front to peaceful cities, eliminates 95–97% of attacking drones. Although, of course, there is room for improvement,” added “Madyar”.

"Madyar" noted that he did not consider it appropriate to give advice to the mayor, but stressed that it was not worth criticising the military, who shoot down enemy targets day and night.

He also called for people to be protected and for unnecessary public statements to be avoided, emphasising that the military will continue to operate in the skies.