Russian war correspondents state that losses have reached an unacceptable level. "A remake of autumn 2022 awaits us"
Russian pro-war bloggers and "war correspondents" are increasingly writing about the deteriorating situation at the front and growing losses. According to them, Ukrainian forces have managed to regain an advantage in the use of drones and have started to massively target Russian logistics.
Illustrative photo. Source: AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky, File
The author of the Telegram channel "Reporter Fikatov" claims that Ukrainian forces have effectively regained an advantage in the "lower sky" — the space where FPV drones operate. According to him, the Russian army, having gained an advantage in the number of such drones and long-range drones like the "Shahed" ("Geran"), "calmed down and waited."
The Z-blogger claims that Ukrainian forces have learned to comprehensively disable Russian drone defenses and have since begun to massively attack logistics at a depth of 50-60 kilometers, using new communication frequencies that are harder to jam.
"What can we counter with? Nothing. Although specialists have been saying for a year: the enemy is moving away from standard solutions and developing their 'X-factors'" — the author laments.
Similar assessments are heard in another Z-channel — "Philologist in Ambush," whose author cites messages from his military acquaintances from the Dobropolsky direction.
Already in early February, he was informed about a significant increase in Ukrainian drone activity in the Mirnograd direction. According to an anonymous serviceman, experienced drone operators have apparently arrived in this sector, who have been "burning vehicles in commercial quantities for several days already."
According to him, Ukrainian drones have effectively started hunting logistics. At night, heavy drones like "Baba Yaga" drop mines on roads, while during the day, FPV drones monitor routes and attack transport. As a result, getting from Novogrodovka to Mirnograd becomes very dangerous — the author himself claims to have been attacked by drones twice in a few days.
He also notes that Ukrainian drones have started operating even on routes previously considered relatively safe. The main problem, according to the military, remains the lack of electronic warfare systems capable of jamming drones operating on frequencies from 6 to 10 GHz.
"Among the positives: posts are set up along the road — if they see a 'comic' (kamikaze drone — NN), shooting starts, and you hear it in advance, giving you time to stop and jump out of the car."
As inferred from a message sent to the channel author in early March, the Ukrainian side's transition to new frequencies and the development of drone capabilities for all weather conditions have significantly complicated the operation of Russian electronic warfare systems. According to an anonymous serviceman, "FPV terror has increased again" in their sector of the front.
He claims that the electronic warfare systems "Pokrov," "Impuls," and "Groza" used by Russian units effectively remain at the level of the first half of last year. Previously, they at least partially interfered with FPV drone control — this could be observed by the unstable flight and maneuvers of the drones. Now, according to him, drones barely react to these systems.
The serviceman suggests that the Ukrainian side has changed not only video transmission channels but also control systems, possibly using other frequency ranges, digital communication protection, and multiple channels simultaneously. At the same time, he admits that some of the problems could be attributed to the mistakes of his own subordinates, but, according to him, complaints about the inefficiency of Russian electronic warfare systems are widespread.
The situation, according to the servicemen, continues to worsen. These days, they are already writing about the effective collapse of logistics in some sectors of the front.
"A complete disaster is brewing. Logistics in the 15-kilometer zone have effectively died — even on foot. We walk to our OPs (observation posts — NN) for 3-4 days," — the channel author quotes a message from the front.
As the serviceman claims, there are now "a lot of" Ukrainian FPV drones "everywhere — even where they haven't been seen for a whole year." And this is despite the fact that, according to him, "the Starlink crisis has been overcome by approximately 60%."
However, according to his assessment, there is no effective response to the new level of drone attacks yet.
He notes that a certain number of "Groza" electronic warfare systems, designed for frequencies relevant to 2024, were transferred to the troops last year, after which, according to him, no significant update of countermeasures occurred.
The author of the message also claims that observation posts against aerial targets, staffed from various units — security and defense battalions, anti-aircraft gunners, or tank crews without tanks who are used as infantry — largely "do not come out of their dugouts."
"If this continues, a remake of autumn 2022 awaits us," — warns the unknown serviceman, recalling Russia's catastrophic retreat near Kharkiv.
The author of the Telegram channel himself claims that he did not rush to publish these messages, hoping that the situation would be rectified, but "a month has passed, and the situation is only deteriorating in the most alarming way."