Russian occupants reduced the use of armored vehicles in the Kurakhove sector, switching to the tactics of small assault groups. However, the threat from drones, in particular those powered by fiber optics, remains relevant. Orest Drymalovsky, a representative of the press service of the 79th Tauride Air Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told this during a telethon, UNN reports.
Drymalovskyi said that the occupiers have actually reduced the use of armored vehicles and tanks in the Kurakhove sector in recent weeks. This is in comparison with the period in late November and early December, when the occupiers attacked with whole convoys of 10 or even 15 vehicles.
"Now small assault groups are actually attacking, and the occupiers are coming in with infantry forces. This is due to various reasons. The first is that the occupiers obviously suffered heavy losses in the previous months. During the fighting in December alone, there were such assaults when the occupiers were traveling with dozens of vehicles and lost virtually their entire arsenal, all the vehicles were burned by our FPV drones, our operators, our anti-tankers, and accordingly, these losses forced the occupiers to reconsider their tactics," Drymalovskyi said.
The second reason was deteriorating weather conditions.
"The equipment has less cross-country ability, it is harder for it to move across the fields, tanks, armored personnel carriers, APCs, they get bogged down, stuck. These are very convenient targets for our FPV operators, for Mavic's with munitions that simply burn them at a great distance to our forward positions, so obviously the occupiers have switched to the tactics of small assault groups, but this does not mean that the intensity of the enemy's assault is any less. The occupiers are coming with infantry, which is also a big challenge. It is difficult to detect them even with the help of aerial reconnaissance, drones, because they try to move covertly from house to house, from forest to forest, but we detect them, our soldiers detect them and try to destroy them on the outskirts of our positions," added the representative of the press service of the 79th Air Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Application of drones on fiber optics
"Our soldiers have encountered such drones, but this is not yet a systematic work of Russian drone operators, there are still isolated cases of using drones with fiber optic cables, but they exist and this is a big threat. Indeed, the occupiers are trying to modernize their drones, trying to avoid the effects of our electronic warfare and electronic suppression, and are looking for a solution, and such drones are the solution," Drimalovsky said.
It should be noted that these drones are controlled via a light signal transmitted via fiber optics from the remote control to the drone. Such a system allows the drone to avoid the effects of EW, as EW is not effective against fiber optic communications. The signal is converted to light, which is transmitted through the cable and converted back to an electrical signal at the receiver. The only way to interrupt the connection is to damage the cable. Of course, such drones have many disadvantages.
"They are slower, less maneuverable, and easier to shoot down with small arms. Even if we can't suppress them with electronic warfare, our soldiers often use small arms, even shotguns. They fly slower and are somewhat easier to hit, but they are still a big threat. Our engineers are also working to find solutions to minimize this threat and to find countermeasures. I can't tell you whether we are using such drones at the moment, but our soldiers are working every day to ensure that our response is asymmetrical," summarized Drymalovskyi.
Recall
The situation in Kurakhove is quite difficult, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces holding on to the western outskirts.