Russian forces are trying to counter Ukraine’s drone attacks “between strikes” by hiding cargo and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots have said.
Kyiv’s development of “inter-strike” drones that can target targets several kilometers behind the front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often transported via Starlink, have revolutionized the war in Ukraine.
In a joint campaign at the center of the strike this year, Ukraine has attacked supply lines, oil storage facilities, air defense installations and command centers, disrupting the transport of Russian forces and causing fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.
But Russia is now developing more ways to try to counter medium-range attacks, four drone commanders and pilots told Reuters staff who visited Ukraine’s 422nd Airborne Systems Regiment on duty in southern Zaporizhzhia.
Russian methods to protect fuel and other military equipment range from hiding cargo in civilian vehicles to using sophisticated electronic jamming devices to block the communications used to operate the drones, they said.
Jamming devices have been placed by Russia near cities and military bases, including some that could disrupt the Starlink systems operated by Musk’s SpaceX, they said.
