Ukraine changing course of war with massive UAV strikes on Russian territory - Times
The Ukrainian military has been conducting coordinated attacks on Russian air bases, ammunition depots, oil refineries and military facilities using massive UAV attacks.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in the article by The Times.
Casper, commander of the 1st Battalion, 14th Separate UAV Regiment, said: "In order to succeed we need to launch dozens, sometimes hundreds of drones simultaneously from different launching sites. In order for the operation to be successful, we need to launch decoys too to get across the contact line, where the most intense air defence is. We launched decoys to make a corridor for ourselves."
The newspaper notes that in recent days, a gas complex in Astrakhan and a refinery in Volgograd have been hit. In total, Ukrainian drones have already attacked 20 of Russia's 30 largest oil refineries.
"Ukraine is intensifying its attacks on energy infrastructure which, despite international sanctions, continues to fund President Putin’s war chest," The Times writes.
"Our success rate has increased a dozen times since the start of the war. In 2022 we could produce up to five long-range strike drones per month. Now we can produce more than 500 per month," says Brigadier Yurii Shchyhol, head of State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, adding that production rates are increasing.
According to him, the attacks are mostly carried out using propeller-driven unmanned aerial vehicles, but in future missions a new model of faster jet drones will be used.
In addition to the refinery fires, Russia is forced to move its air bases further inland.
"They have no airfields left within 300km that they can use to attack Ukraine. It is not just a flat surface of an airfield. It is refuelling, repair, maintenance and everything that goes with it," he explained
The 14th UAV Regiment is led by Charlie, an officer who has completed the US Army's Special Forces Qualification Course, known as the Q Course.
"Our first successful operation was against an airbase in Russia in Morozovsk city, situated in the east of Rostov," says Charlie, referring to an attack on April 17-18, 2023. "We destroyed on this airbase 17 planes, type Su-34, Su-35 and Su-24M. It was a surprise, I guess, for the Russians — it was the first operation of this type."
Since then, Charlie says, the Russians have dramatically improved their electronic warfare and air defence capabilities, as well as their own long-range drone programmes.
Now, counterstrikes strikes are a constant threat. The regiment needs to move quickly to get their drones off the ground, operating in the dark with only torches so as not to attract the attention of the enemy. Engineers waste no time, moving purposefully as they conduct pre-flight checks, lifting and tilting the airframes to check their airworthiness, the publication notes.
The Ukrainians use a range of Western weapons alongside their own. According to Charlie, a typical operation involves a UAV taking off to force Russian air defences to switch on their radars, and then aircraft strike with US AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles. Other UAVs and HIMARS engage secondary targets, forcing the SAMs to expend ammunition, and striking the electronic warfare systems to hit the primary target with a Storm Shadow missile.
During another attack on Tikhoretsk, the regiment destroyed an ammunition depot with "Iskander" missiles used to fire on Ukrainian cities and artillery shells imported from North Korea.
"Our analysts said that Russia’s forces in the south will have a problem with ammunition for three months because we destroyed this storage," Charlie says.
The commander of the regiment's 2nd battalion, call sign Whale, said: "We are the pioneers of new tactics, new strategy, so of course the whole world is interested to receive this information, to learn for their own forces the lessons of Ukraine."
He compared the war in Afghanistan, where militants have different weapons.
"Here we have a strong enemy with strong armoured vehicles with artillery, huge quantity of soldiers. Missiles, rockets, intelligence. Psyops [psychological operations], everything. And spies, a lot of spies," Whale said.
The soldiers of the 14th UAV Regiment know the Russians are hunting them day and night, having intercepted radio chatter about their unit. They waste no time as soon as their drones are in the air. They disperse in their vehicles, disappearing like their drones into the night. The Russians, they believe, have no idea where or how they will strike next.
