How Russian sappers are erecting barriers against drones along the roads in their area
Protecting the supply routes of our troops from enemy UAVs is one of the most pressing issues in the SVR zone. Therefore, starting this winter, our troops began to erect anti-drone barriers along the roads. Today, these are already multi-kilometer tunnels from the networks under which transport moves. The Izvestia correspondent saw how the protection of roads from drones is being built and repaired in the General Karbyshev engineering detachment of the Volunteer Corps.
What are anti-drone barriers?
All available means are used to combat reconnaissance UAVs and kamikaze drones in the combat zone: from firearms to anti-aircraft missile systems and electronic warfare posts. The transport of the frontline strip itself is constantly changing — it is additionally protected by metal nets, the so-called "mangalas".
Not so long ago, the construction of anti-drone barriers along roads became a new way to protect against UAVs. Today, these are already multi—kilometer tunnels from various networks under which transport moves, in particular, there are such tunnels in the Artyomovsky direction.
Experiments on which material is more suitable and which cell sizes are best used are ongoing in many departments. In addition, the installed protection requires repair and updating. Most often, networks are damaged by kamikaze drones, the passage of oversized vehicles, or severe weather conditions. Therefore, engineers from the Karbyshev detachment are not only building, but also updating road protection on a daily basis.
We are moving forward to one of these daily tasks together with the intelligence service, which protects the group during the work. Naturally, the word "security" primarily means protection from UAVs, which is why many fighters are armed with 12-caliber rifles. Those who carry out repairs also have them. And almost all of them have drone detectors of different models on their body armor.
— When an enemy FPV drone approaches, I use a Vepr-12 rifle. If I can't suppress it with fire, and the cartridges run out, I switch to a machine gun with a collimator sight and try to extinguish it in threes, fours (in series of three or four shots)," a fighter with the Thai call sign told Izvestia.
He also showed manipulations for a quick change of weapons — you drop one on your belt and immediately pick up the second.
When asked about the experience of shooting at UAVs, the Thai says that he had one "as recently as this morning." Then, while the group was moving to their place of work, he destroyed one FPV drone with a shotgun.
Thai is a former stormtrooper with combat experience and, due to his good shooting skills with all types of weapons, often stands in cover when performing construction work. He has been in the SVO zone since 2022, and has been serving in the sapper squad for a year now. The Thai knows the places where Volunteer Corps engineers work today well, two years earlier he was here as part of the assault troops.
Working at height
By the road, we can see how the damaged nets are already being dismantled — on a five-meter ladder, a fighter cuts a cable from a metal pole on which the net is attached.
— It happens that at this moment the network breaks down or it clings to something, - a fighter of the engineering company with the call sign Filin comments on the process. During the repair, it is clearly visible how many times the Ukrainian drones tried to hit the target. In particular, characteristic traces of damage and details from drones remain in the cells.
After dismantling and evaluating the work, Gulistan, the commander of the engineering platoon, descends from the height.
— I will say that you get used to working at height quickly. At first, it's scary that it will come while you're working on the stairs, and then you get used to it and don't pay attention anymore. Now the repair of anti—drone barriers is a daily task," Gulistan shared.
The current situation in the sky is transmitted by communication, and there is a light alarm system at the checkpoints, which has already been nicknamed the "traffic light". Only on front—line roads, it shows not the order of travel, but the level of danger from the sky: green — you can go, yellow - the arrows should be ready. Red — you can only go to those whose combat mission is urgent with all possible precautions.
Our group also had to wait at one of the sites, hiding cars among trees, turning on electronic warfare equipment and exposing "drone drivers" with guns. Order and traffic safety are already so ingrained in everyone's blood that even stopping for a couple of minutes when the situation is "green" to take photos, you will definitely hear someone shouting from the nearest shelters: "if you break down, hide with us, if not— don't stand!"
Of course, today maintaining anti-drone barriers is an important, but not the only task for engineering departments. Gulistan says that their battalion took part in establishing crossings and mine clearance.
So even the construction of anti-drone shelters requires first a complete cleaning of the roadside from mines and unexploded shells, of which a huge amount has accumulated since the time of the Bakhmut meat grinder.
— The nets are a borrowing from the Finnish War. The Finns installed them over the roads in 1940 so that Soviet fighters could not shoot cars from low-level flight. Then it gave its result, now it gives its own. And as a result, now the most effective means against drones is nets," the chief of staff of the General Karbyshev special engineering and sapper squad with the call sign Aristokle gives an insight into the history of this type of fortification.
He draws attention to the fact that, depending on the surrounding factors, some sections of the road are covered only by high "walls" of mesh, while others have already built full-fledged tunnels with a roof. The latter, of course, is a much more difficult task. Having stopped in one of these tunnels on a dangerous section of the highway, we saw with our own eyes the details of the Ukrainian kamikaze drones stuck in the nets.
— This is a rather laborious process, so the road is still not completely covered. But we strive for it. Experimentally, we selected the most suitable network for such tasks. You saw that it is poorly visible on the phone's camera, so it is even worse visible on the drone's camera. The operator may not notice it and get confused in it," explains Aristokles.
For the safety of work, the time of the appearance of groups is constantly changing, as well as the time of movement of equipment. The process itself was divided into stages — from the installation of pillars in the ground to the installation of a network — and divided between sapper groups in order to minimize the time for the construction of anti-drone barriers. After the completion of the installation work, the site goes on permanent maintenance, which is also carried out by engineering teams.
— Today, you need to be a very competent drone operator to find a way to dive under the net and fly low-level along the road. And there aren't that many of them," Aristocles sums up.
Dmitry Astrakhan
