Ukrainian special operators are learning to keep a close watch on the skies when they move in to assault Russian-held trenches, as the surge in drones on the battlefield forces soldiers to constantly change how they fight.
“Our training has changed,” an operator in the 4th Ranger Regiment of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces told Business Insider. “We’ve started using [uncrewed aerial vehicles] more, and we pay much more attention to countering drones.”
“We also constantly train to infiltrate in small groups,” the operator, who is second-in-command of a small unit, said in an interview. He requested to be identified only by his call sign “Gur” for security reasons.
The front line that stretches across southern and eastern Ukraine has turned into what soldiers and officials describe as a “kill zone,” an area heavily saturated with drones that can target anything that moves, from people to vehicles.
The kill zone varies in width, but it typically extends roughly 10 to 20 kilometers from the line of contact. Ukrainian officials have said that it is expanding, though, forcing commanders to make tactical adjustments.
For Ukraine’s elite special operators, drones are increasingly a part of their training, which once focused primarily on surviving Russian artillery fire.
Gur said Ukrainian drone pilots participate in training exercises. Operators will keep an eye out for threats from above, engage “enemy” drones, cover soldiers beside them, and seek shelter. If the focus is on movement, they’ll practice concealment and cover, and once the drone passes, keep walking.
Operators also use pump-action shotguns during live-fire training. Ukrainian soldiers have described these weapons as an ideal, last-resort defense against first-person-view (FPV) drones, particularly the fiber-optic drones that can’t be jammed with electronic warfare.
The incredible proliferation of drones on the battlefield has also changed how special operators approach trench-clearing operations, a style of fighting that the war has brought back in a big way.
The trench warfare in Ukraine has drawn comparisons to World War I, though the presence of drones and robots on the battlefield has given it a futuristic twist, making an already difficult mission much harder.
Gur described a scenario where a four-person group needs to clear a trench, so they move in teams. In each pair, the first soldier keeps a gun pointed toward the trench, while the second soldier trails a few meters behind, scanning the sky.
If a Russian drone is spotted, they open fire. “You can do that with a standard rifle or with a pump-action shotgun,” Gur said.
Meanwhile, the second duo covers for the first until they reach the trench and begin clearing it. At this point, the first duo calls the second pair to move forward. When all four soldiers are together, at least one of them is watching the sky.
“If they’re split into pairs, one soldier works in the trench, while the other helps him and watches the airspace above them,” Gur said. “When we leave the trench, the first soldier watches the ground and the horizon, while his partner watches the sky.”
“And then we keep moving in the same way,” Gur added. “Someone always has to be watching the sky. It has to be done constantly.”
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