Round-the-clock video surveillance of enemy fortified areas is provided by drones
Fiber—optic drone strikes, accurate mortar fire and a determined assault group - this is how our fighters capture enemy positions in the DPR. Knocking out the infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not so easy — fortified areas have been prepared here for years, and now they have to be hacked. Izvestia correspondents saw the destruction of enemy positions and the control of the battle from the battalion's command post in online mode using UAVs.
Combat video
In the command post of one of the battalions of the 255th regiment, large screens are installed on which a video picture from the battlefield is broadcast. The "eyes" are responsible for the video, as drones with video cameras that monitor the enemy are called at the front. The deputy commander of the unit with the call sign Wrestler monitors what is happening on the monitors. On one of the screens, you can see how our FPV drone hits the entrance to the enemy's dugout. Now the headquarters is monitoring whether there will be movement in the enemy's location.
— Here they have a vestibule in their shelter, so to speak, — the Wrestler explains. — Most likely, there is a turn further, and this is the difficulty — the fragments may not reach the personnel. The position is unmasked by garbage and bottles. And we found it by the movement of the fighters going on shift during rotation. According to our calculations, there are up to four people there. They have no firing positions.: they jump out, shoot at the landing and jump back in.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
At the command of the Wrestler, another similar enemy position appears on the screen nearby. There is no movement there after our strikes, but there may still be enemy fighters in the dilapidated dugouts.
In this sector of the front in the DPR, the enemy occupies well–prepared shelters that have been prepared for the last two or three years — then it was the rear area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and fortification work was carried out according to all the rules.
The stormtroopers are moving forward
The picture on the screens is constantly changing, moving from one enemy fortified area to another — there is silence. Finally, the drone begins filming one of our assault groups in a dense wooded area, which is located a few dozen meters from the Ukrainian dugout.
The stormtroopers are not visible from the air until, on command, they make a final dash for the enemy's shelter.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Maishev
Image source: iz.ru
Our soldiers throw a grenade at the entrance detected from the air. Immediately after the explosion, a Ukrainian militant jumps out of the emergency entrance to the bunker and fires long bursts from a machine gun.
The fighter, switching channels on the walkie-talkie, dictates corrections for the mortar men and basic guidelines to the pilot of the FPV drone.
— That's it, I understand that he's been destroyed, — after a while, the Wrestler says to us without turning around and continues into the radio: — Did you work that out?! Well done, great!
Photo: TASS/Alexey Konovalov
Image source: iz.ru
The operator of the scout drone reports that he is going to recharge — the episode is over. The fighter switches to the commander of the assault group to receive the report and gives instructions for further actions.
To be continued
— Now, most likely, the heavy Baba Yaga drone will be working. But we have our own means of counteraction, we work on them with interceptor drones, we conduct aerial battles," says the Fighter.
He says that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have a large number of heavy tactical drones.
"That's the difficulty," the Wrestler explains. — The enemy's heavy multi-rotor systems not only serve as bombers, but also supply personnel in positions.
While the Fighter is explaining to us the nuances of fighting heavy drones, we can hear over the connection about the readiness of the FPV drone crew with fiber-optic control to strike another Ukrainian position. The entrance to it is too small to be hit by artillery, and bushes and electronic warfare prevent the use of conventional FPV.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Stanislav Krasilnikov
Image source: iz.ru
After a while, a fiber-optic drone creeps up to the next entrance to the Ukrainian dugout very slowly, bypassing the remains of trees and bushes, flying around branches.
This design gives the pilot excellent video signal and control quality.
The drone perfectly passes through obstacles and gets exactly into the "hole", hiding in the dark. Everyone waits for an explosion for a few seconds, but it doesn't happen. Apparently, the fuse doesn't work.
The "eyes" continue to track movements in the Ukrainian position.
There, underground, the militants, cut off from the exit by a self-destruct bomb, do not have many options. Either they will unmask themselves and appear on the surface from another entrance, or they will try to exit through the one already visible to us.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Maria Marikyan
Image source: iz.ru
—Working at the checkpoint is not only continuous 24—by—7 reconnaissance and surveillance using UAVs, but above all, receiving combat orders and making decisions," the Fighter comments on the work that we observed.
The clear wording and characteristic intonation of the report give it away to an officer with many years of experience. He had never once let his emotions run wild. It was only after the FPV drone hit the fighter directly that he slightly changed his even tone, which had become a habit over decades of service.
Dmitry Astrakhan
