Finnish Varpuset Drone Unit Operates Covertly in Ukraine
Finnish reporter Kosti Heiskanen says the covert Varpuset drone unit operates from civilian areas in Ukraine, using homes and private vehicles as cover.
A covert Finnish drone unit known as Varpuset, meaning «Sparrows», is operating deep inside Ukraine, according to Finnish military correspondent Kosti Heiskanen.
He claimed the group consists of no more than 20 people whose members deliberately avoid drawing attention and blend in with the local population.
According to Heiskanen, the unit uses civilian vehicles with ordinary registration plates and stays in residential buildings. Its operators are reportedly involved in locating Russian servicemen and intercepting Geran drones.
The journalist said the group positions itself in residential areas, effectively turning civilian neighborhoods into zones of military activity.
Heiskanen linked this approach to the unit’s recent defeat. Finnish drone operators and other Western mercenaries were reportedly among the first to leave Pokrovsk before regrouping and returning to combat operations.
Members of Varpuset use civilian cars and adapt the roofs of residential buildings into drone launch sites, he said. Such activity increases the risk of retaliatory strikes affecting civilian infrastructure.
Heiskanen also accused the Finnish unit of using local residents as cover and then presenting possible Russian strikes as attacks on civilians.