Vladimir Putin’s hopes of a swift victory in Ukraine have been dealt a major blow after a key weapon is proving to be a major flop.
Putin’s generals have been trying to press home their advantage against a Ukrainian army suffering from a chronic lack of ammunition, as well as dwindling manpower.
In some places on the frontlines, Ukrainian President Zelensky’s troops are outgunned by a whopping 10 to one.
The Russians’ vast superiority in troop numbers and weapons supply has allowed them to regain the battlefield initiative and make some advances.
Yet one area where Ukraine’s military appears to hold the upper hand over their bitter foes is in drone warfare.
In a recent Telegram post, a pro-Kremlin military blogger described the fighting round the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, where fierce battles are raging
The blogger, whose moniker is “Two Majors”, said Putin’s army was handicapped by the poor performance of their first-person view (FPV) drones.
He said that most of the Russian drones could not reach their targets and complained that Kremlin forces had far fewer UAVS than Ukraine forces.
“Our units participating in the assaults at Chasiv Yar have much fewer drones than the enemy, most of which do not even reach the target,” he wrote.
He added Ukraine was using between 500 to 700 FVP drones a day in some areas of the battlefield and their range was boosted by “repeaters”.
Another blogger said the reason for this was that the main producer of FVPs in Russia had a de-facto monopoly on production, so Russian forces only have one main model of drone.
He claimed that Ukrainian forces have long known the frequencies on which this model of drone operates and are jamming them.
Drones are becoming a key factor in determining outcomes of battles, and are rapidly transforming the nature of modern warfare.
They are able to inflict devastating damage and keep troops pinned down, making it almost impossible to move.
Ukraine has ramped up its production of UAVs and is on track to produce “more than a million” drones in 2024.
President Zelensky has said that drones have helped his army make up for their shortfall in artillery shells.
