The correspondent of Izvestia got acquainted with the work of a special unit using UAVs for psychological pressure on the enemy
In Kurakhovo, fighting is taking place both in the city itself and on the flanks — large forces of Ukrainian militants are under threat of encirclement. The enemy's supply routes have already turned out to be under the fire control of our artillery and UAVs. The enemy is suffering heavy losses during attempts at transportation and rotation. The Izvestia correspondent visited this hot spot on the line of contact and saw how our fighters, using drones, convince enemy units to surrender, which were left as a barrier in the way of our troops.
Leaflets on the heads of enemies
The fighters are getting ready to start work. Operators check their UAVs before departure. One of them carries hundreds of leaflets with detailed instructions for surrender, the second — a loudspeaker. A mast with antennas and repeaters unfolds. They show me a technique that will convince the opponent to raise his hands up.
— This is a regular FPV drone, - explains the UAV operator with the call sign Conductor. — It has a universal reset for printed products. Now there are about 400 leaflets on it, but in principle it can accommodate up to 700. We can send such a pack 10-15 km deep into enemy territory. The drone flies steadily and always gets to its target.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
The conductor explains that they drop leaflets from a height of about 100 m, although it happens that it is lower — it all depends on weather and other conditions.
Today, when the enemy withdraws its well-trained and manned units from their doomed positions, their place is taken by those whom the command is not sorry to sacrifice. Basically, they are hastily trained and poorly armed mobilized. It is believed that their task is to buy time for Ukrainian politicians and military commanders.
Our fighters say that the military and political leadership of the enemy repeats the same scenario from city to city: first, the settlement is declared an invincible "fortress", then they withdraw to new frontiers. This was the case in many cities and towns in the DPR.
For Ukrainian servicemen, surrender is not an easy task. In the Ukrainian rear, they face long prison terms for such attempts. At the front, commanders and representatives of nationalist organizations can be shot without trial on suspicion of wanting to surrender. Moreover, units with low morale are often specially assigned to trusted people on special conditions for precisely such purposes.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
For this reason, our fighters have to not only convince the enemy to surrender, but also explain how to do it and stay alive.
Campaigning with songs and artillery
After the drone with the leaflets, an unmanned car with a loudspeaker rises into the sky.
— Here a bird flies up to the Ukrainians and starts broadcasting an audio message, — says the operator with the call sign Hawk. — We explain that they are doomed. The drone moves slowly, flies closer and closer, begins to descend — puts pressure on the psyche of the enemy, makes them go to surrender. There is a long range of sound, diverse, sometimes we play patriotic songs for them.
Hawk explains that for effectiveness, psychological treatment of the enemy alternates with artillery and UAV strikes on him. Our fighters joke that after that, the militants become more receptive to the information they receive and say goodbye to the myths of Ukrainian propaganda faster.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
Interestingly, flying loudspeakers were used for similar purposes during the Great Patriotic War. A special version of the U-2GN night bomber was used for this purpose. The letters "GN" in the name of the aircraft stood for "voice of the sky".
— First you need to break the enemy, and then show him some ray of hope, — the Hawk finishes his story.
For those who have already decided to surrender, drones are also often the guides. They show the way to our trenches through minefields and lead the enemy along the route — they serve as flying guides. At the same time, they monitor their compliance with the conditions of surrender.
The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is trying to counteract this. To reduce the number of surrenders, Ukrainian nationalists and special units simulate surrender, and then try to attack our fighters. But these tricks do not help, there are more and more Weseushnikov surrendering.
Dmitry Astrakhan
