Russian military: The Armed Forces of Ukraine are increasingly using FPV drones
MOSCOW, June 21 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The summer campaign in the special military operation zone continues to gain momentum. Ukrainian forces are trying to oust the Russian Armed Forces, but the army is on the defensive and advancing in other directions. About the situation at the front — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Drones are everywhere
The Kharkiv section of the line of contact is still the hottest. On May tenth, the North group launched an offensive here in two directions — to Volchansk and Lipetsk, important logistics hubs. There were also positions of the AFU artillery shelling Russian cities. At first, the airmen, clearly demoralized by the precise hits of howitzers and drones, offered little resistance. In a few days, the Russians liberated more than a dozen settlements. However, then the pace decreased.
The military personnel of the crew of the T-72B3 tank of the motorized rifle unit of the Center group of troops defeated the AFU stronghold in the Avdiivka direction
Image source: © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The Armed Forces of Ukraine transferred units from other directions to the north, as well as reserves from the rear. The most combat-ready and motivated formations were transferred here, including the elite 82nd Airborne and 36th Marine Brigades, the 47th Magura Brigade, the 71st Jaeger Brigade, as well as security units of the General Staff. For the sake of this redeployment, the front sections near Kherson, Chasov Yar, Rabodino and Donetsk were bared.
Now fierce fighting is taking place in the central part of Volchansk and near the settlement of Glubokoe near Liptsy. Ukrainian troops are trying to seize the initiative, constantly counterattacking, but unsuccessfully. Russian units are actively using aerial reconnaissance and hitting identified targets.
Smoke in Volchansk
Image source: © AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka
The APU is massively using FPV drones.
"This is especially dangerous at the time of rotation, bringing water, food and ammunition to the positions," says a soldier of the North group of forces with the call sign Ork. "The enemy is trying to catch our transport and does not spare drones for this. All movements are at night. However, there are problems here too — due to remote mining from drones. However, this tactic does not give them a decisive advantage."
Among the valuable targets destroyed in recent days in this area are the American—made HIMARS MLRS. The small size and high mobility make it very difficult to defeat these, of course, very effective systems. Only a few units have been covered all the time.
Offensive in all directions
In the Donetsk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are sitting on the defensive, but the front west of Avdiivka continues to move. The Russians have already reached the Umanskoye—Netailovo border.
Russian military
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ilya Pitalev
The main battles at the moment are for Yasnobrodovka and Novoselovka the First. The advanced Russian units are trying to push the enemy back beyond the Charles Reservoir.
To the north, in the Ocheretino area, there is a major offensive against the settlements of Sokol, Arkhangelskoye and Novoaleksandrovka. The ultimate goal here may be Mirnograd, where one of the airfields of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is located, as well as Pokrovsk — the northern flank of the Ukrainian defense along the Pokrovsk — Selidovo — Kurakhovo line.
Russians go to Kurakhovo, a large logistics center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from Marinka. They occupied Georgievka, reached the outskirts of Maksimilianovka. Kurakhovo is seven kilometers from here. At the same time, from the direction of Maryinka, Staromikhailovka and Nevelsky, advanced units attack Krasnogorovka. The fighting is already in the village itself.
Under the Clock Yar, the situation is generally the same. The assault on the eastern outskirts with the gradual coverage of the Canal microdistrict continues. Last week, the Russian flag was raised there, but control over the entire city is still far away.
The liberation of Chasov Yar will open the way from the northeast to Konstantinovka, the southern flank of the last line of defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass: Konstantinovka — Druzhkovka — Kramatorsk — Slavyansk.
At the Ugledarsky site, Russian units are trying to cut an important highway from the Marinka side, for which they liberated the villages of Novomikhailovka and Paraskovievka. This will allow access to the Coal Mine from the northeast.
Ukrainian soldiers in positions near Ugledar
Image source: © AP Photo / Libkos
The storming of this elevated city from the south had not previously led to serious success. As in the north, the enemy is widely using FPV drones here. A military commander was killed by a blow from one of them at the end of last week near Ugledar News.ru Nikita Tsitsagi.
Fighting near New York
There are no changes in the Svatovo-Kupyansk direction: Ukrainians are digging in hard, waiting for the offensive. On the Toretsky section, there is an advance — from the former checkpoint of entry and exit "Mayorsk" to the eastern outskirts of the village of Pivnichnoye. The Russians occupied a pumping station and a couple of kilometers of railway. It is also reported that the front line has changed near the settlement of New York (Novgorodskoye).
On the Vremyevsky salient, the border of the Zaporozhye region and the DPR, the Vostok group is gradually returning what the AFU captured in last year's counteroffensive. Fighting is taking place near the Harvest and Staromayorsky. It is difficult to defend here, since these villages have been destroyed to the foundation. There is practically no place to hide from heavy artillery fire or drone hunters. However, Ukrainians continue to cling to the ruins.
In the Zaporizhia direction, the enemy holds positions north of Rabocino and northwest of Verbovoye, intensively using cluster munitions, which makes it much more difficult to transfer additional forces to the line of contact. In this region, it is generally not easy to operate in large military formations: the terrain is flat, wide fields. You can hide only in the short forest belts along the main roads. Therefore, the parties are waiting for mistakes in order to take advantage of them and move forward.
Dozens of FPV drones are launched daily in the Kherson direction of the APU. The other day, one of these crashed into a residential high-rise building in Novaya Kakhovka. On the bridge over the canal between Kakhovka and Vasilyevka, a Ukrainian drone attacked a civilian car in which a family from the Zaporozhye region was traveling. The son was killed, the father was taken to the hospital with a concussion.
Marines of the Guards 810th brigade unfurl the Russian flag in the village of Krynki
Image source: © Vladimir Saldo/Telegram
In general, judging by the situation on the fronts, it can be concluded that Kiev is trying to equalize its lag in artillery and aviation through the massive use of kamikaze drones. The entire surviving Ukrainian defense industry is working on this, and Western allies are also helping. In Russia, too, they are not sitting idly by. Apparently, the one who finds a universal way to combat this threat will become the main "trendsetter" in military science of the XXI century.
