As of: March 12, 2024, 3:13 p.m
By: Ulrike Hagen
Comments
Press
Split
Bloggers complain that Ukraine's drone offensive is putting a strain on Russia.
In Avdiivka, Kiev deployed as many drones as Putin's army had soldiers.
Avdiivka – Despite significant losses in its two-year war against Ukraine, Russia still has more tanks, more artillery and more troops than Ukraine.
However, Vladimir Putin's army apparently cannot keep up with Kiev's drone fleet.
Even after the loss of Avdiivka, the drone offensive could mean an advantage for the outnumbered and ammunition-poor Ukrainian armed forces in the fight in eastern Ukraine.
Bloggers complain that Ukraine's drone offensive is putting a strain on Russia.
Screenshot from a video by the Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine (HUR) purporting to show the destruction of a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship.
© IMAGO / Cover images
Drone advantage for Ukraine troops?
Since August, Ukrainian troops have
piloted at least 8,273 FPV drones at Russian troops, according to a
Forbes magazine report.
FPV stands for “First Person View”: This means that soldiers can control the drones live using video glasses.
The drones weigh around 0.9 kilograms and can transport almost half a kilo of explosives a good three kilometers, writes
Forbes
, citing open source analysts.
Russia, for its part, has carried out 6,059 FPV drone strikes.
The actual numbers could be higher on both sides.
Ukraine and Russia in the drone war: Kiev could be ahead in one area
The situation after the capture of Avdiivka speaks for Russia and “the momentum is currently on the Russian side because the Ukrainian troops are struggling with shortages of both personnel and weapons,” conflict observer Nikita Gerasimov from the Free University of Berlin recently warned
watson
.
But in addition to figures from Kiev, new analyzes also show that losses among Russian troops are high.
A precise count of published attacks by explosives-laden drones shows that Ukraine carries out around 300 more confirmed FPV drone attacks per month than Russia,
Forbes
reported .
Ukraine is bracing itself against Russia's superior power in the drone war.
My news
The “challenger” is fighting with itself: British challengers are sinking into reading dirt
Putin's soldiers probably capture German Leopard 2 tanks - because the front is shifting
2 hours ago
Defense Ministry reports: Military plane with 15 people on board crashed in Russia
Several Russian planes shot down: Ukraine finds out about fighter jet secret
Shoigu lie exposed?
Ukraine defends Dnipro bridgehead – Russian bloggers read outraged
Russia sends thousands of refugees and escalates tensions on the border with Finland
Russian military blogger complains: “Number of drones in the Ukrainian armed forces is unimaginably high”
After the fall of Avdiivka, the Ukrainians abandoned the first line of villages a few kilometers to the west, but rebuilt their defensive line in the towns beyond.
On favorable terrain, the Ukrainian armed forces struck back with tanks, artillery and mortars - and above all with a lot of drones.
“The number of drones that the Ukrainian armed forces have in the Avdiivka sector is unimaginably large,” complained a Russian military blogger.
The same blogger estimated that the Ukrainian brigades west of Avdiivka deploy as many drones as the Russian field armies deploy soldiers in that area.
This could mean that the Ukrainians have thousands of FPV drones in stock in this sector alone,
Forbes
military expert David Ax speculated.
According to the latest reports, a refinery belonging to the Russian oil company Lukoil in the Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod is also on fire after a drone attack by Ukraine, according to the region's governor.
And the arms crisis and the Ukrainian ammunition problem could soon be relieved: The Czech Republic recently brokered the purchase of 800,000 grenades for Ukraine through a predominantly European consortium.
The first of these goods could arrive in just a few days.