Getting to meet Maestro is a cloak-and-dagger business.
A series of texts are shared over the weekend and then a rendezvous point is arranged in Dublin city centre on a rain-sodden Monday morning.
As I arrive at the spot, my phone beeps. There is a change of location. There is a dropped pin showing a location two streets away. I go there and wait in the rain.
A few minutes later, Maestro appears along with his girlfriend, wearing a raincoat with the hood up. He is tall and thin and wears a mid-length beard. We retreat out of the rain into a nearby coffee shop. When he takes off the coat, he has a neat short back and sides haircut and a boyish face. Soft-spoken and polite, it is a surprise to hear that he is 38.
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I never get to know his name. Maestro is the call sign he uses in the Ukrainian army unit to which he is attached. It’s a highly specialised unit, an elite force that does specialised work, its version of the Army Ranger Wing in the Irish Defence Forces.
His English is broken so he shares the more complicated information via Google Translate on the phone. The reason for all the secrecy, he explains by text, is: “I serve in the Special Operations Forces and my unit is classified so some anonymity must be maintained.”
Until Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, Maestro had been living in Ireland and making a life here. He moved from the capital, Kyiv, to Ireland in 2020 and worked in a meat processing plant in Co Laois.
He had little English but liked Ireland. It was tough work, especially during Covid.
“I made good friends. There were people there from Ukraine, from Brazil, Ireland and eastern Europe.
“I visited a lot of cities in Ireland. I really liked the beautiful nature of the country.”
Two years later, all changed. On the day of the invasion, he sent a text message to his Ukrainian friends in Ireland saying he was going to go back. In all 12 people from Ukraine flew out together within weeks to join the military.
Maestro was different from many of them. He had been in the Ukrainian army for 14 years and had a lot of military experience. His last assignment before being demobilised was working in intelligence for the special forces. As soon as he returned, he was made a commander of a unit of 16. They work on the front line, using drones to attack Russian military vehicles as well as carrying out surveillance in contested areas.
Towards the end of the interview he flashes out his phone to show some drone footage of his unit’s work.
The aerial video footage shows the drones flying over swathes of beautiful countryside but also towns and villages badly scarred by war, with whole apartment blocks reduced to blackened windowless husks, with debris everywhere. Through that landscape we see the tanks advance, and through the crosshairs the one that is targeted. When they are hit they burst into flames. Sometimes, the personnel inside have time to escape, sometimes not.
It’s like watching a video game – but one with real-life and real-time consequences.
In fact, for the operators, the method is much like that of a video game. Working in small groups of five and operating three drones, they use laptops and the Elon Musk-owned Starlink satellite internet system to locate Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers. Initially access to Starlink gave the Ukrainians an advantage, but the Russians – with the help of allies – have now got access to Starlink too.
Initially Maestro’s unit had access to American drones, but they switched to ones they secured themselves which were modern and adaptable. They have technicians who work on them to improve their operability.
He was based in Kyiv initially but in the 2½ years since then he has fought in Chernihiv (near the border with Russia and Belarus), and around Donetsk in the east, which is currently held by the Russians.
The conditions have been tough. He shows pictures of him and his comrades sleeping on the floorboards of abandoned buildings. The temperatures range from above 30 degrees in the summer to minus 20 or lower during the winter.
“It is very dangerous,” he says. “Some of the soldiers with whom I started to fight have already died.”
Initially, the Ukrainians were at a disadvantage because of their equipment.
“We had weapons but the enemy’s weapons were more powerful and there were more of them.”
But over time, that disadvantage has become less marked. Maestro’s unit travels covertly and sets up where it can inflict most damage. “We use radios but sometimes we do not keep in touch ... There are times when we go behind the enemy lines, sometimes up to 9km into Russian territory.”
It has taken its toll. “Some of the people from my unit have died. Now we are faced with problems recruiting new people. This is a problem because it is a very difficult thing to train a specialist in intelligence,” he says.
We talk a little about Robert Deegan, the former Army Ranger Wing soldier killed in Ukraine last month. Maestro says he met only one Irish-born soldier over a year ago but it was a momentary encounter.
“I bumped into this guy from Ireland when we were fighting in the east last summer. We didn’t get a chance to talk much because the shelling started,” he says.
[ The final days of Robert Deegan, a former Irish special forces soldier in UkraineOpens in new window ]
Has he been in danger or had near-death experiences himself? He says he has but will not specify them. “I am afraid of death. I understand that this can happen to me but my work will not be in vain. I think anyone who is ready to kill should also be ready to be killed themselves.”
Many of the 12 he travelled over with have returned to Ireland as they had families here. Meanwhile, he and his girlfriend are planning for a future after the war. “We will have five children, at least,” he jokes. Both have spent the week in Ireland meeting friends and seeing the sights, including the Cliffs of Moher.
Can he see the war coming to an end anytime soon? He shakes his head.
“The war is now in such a state that we cannot end it by force,” he replies. “We lack heavy weapons. Russian demands are unacceptable to us.
“I think the war will end with negotiations ultimately because the Russians also do not have enough forces to seize more territory.”
He dives into his phone again to make an important point via Google Translate about not ceding to the Russians.
“I lost many friends in this war. I want what they fought for not to be in vain. I want to live in a free country so that I don’t have to worry about the safety of my family.”
And his future country of residence? For the moment it’s Ukraine. He has a great attachment to Ireland and wants to visit but he believes he has invested too much in his home country for him not to be involved in its reconstruction.
The following day, he will fly to Paris and then take a train that will eventually bring him to Poland and on into western Ukraine. We shake hands and he walks back into the rain for what remains of his last day in Ireland.
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