Ukraine takes down its own drones in ‘friendly fire’ as Russia makes large advance

Moscow targets poorly organised and vulnerable units in Donetsk region as Kyiv’s electronic warfare capabilities hinder its own progress

Ukrainian units have been jamming their own drones in the sky as Russia capitalises on poor decision making to advance almost four miles towards a key garrison town.
Yuriy Butusov, a widely respected Ukrainian journalist covering the war, reported that Russian forces were deliberately targeting poorly organised and vulnerable units in a push for the Donetsk region town of Pokrovsk.
He said a lack of coordination between Ukrainian units’ electronic warfare jammers meant a “significant number of our own drones” had been destroyed in a post on social media.
“A critical problem is the lack of a single competent authority for all drone and electronic warfare forces, which continue to be used in a scattered and uncoordinated manner,” Mr Butusov wrote.
“Our own electronic warfare destroys a significant number of our own drones. Drone units are assigned tasks without regard to tactical and technical capabilities.”
He noted that, unusually, the advancing Russian infantry assault groups were no longer targeting vulnerable lines of defence.
Instead, they focus their probing attacks on “those brigades that have the weakest command and organisation, poor control and cohesion”, the journalist wrote in his battlefield update.
“When a poorly managed brigade is attacked, it cannot hold even a narrow line,” he added. “Therefore, all marching replenishment and reserves are used to reinforce the weakest units that suffer the greatest losses.
“This does not allow for the creation of significant tactical reserves that would have time for additional training, could more often rotate soldiers to zero, and equip the second and third lines of defence.”
Russia has been attempting to make a breakthrough in the Donetsk region towards Pokrovsk, a military spokesman told the Kyiv Independent.
“All Russian attempts to advance are met with fierce resistance,” Lt Col Nazar Voloshyn told the news outlet.
He said Ukrainian forces in the area had repelled at least 41 enemy attacks by Wednesday morning, and described the area as one of the hottest along the front lines.
Despite Russian gains, Ukrainian military officials have claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on Moscow’s advancing units, destroying an Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet, a tank and killing or wounding 329 soldiers.
A report by the authoritative Ukrainian Deep State website, which maps changes on the battlefield, said the “operational and tactical situation became critical over the weekend”.
It blamed a “chaotic” retreat by a Ukrainian infantry unit that the country’s battle-hardened 47th mechanised brigade was sent in to stabilise.
Pokrovsk lies about 14 miles from the front line, according to open-source maps produced by Deep State. The town sits on a crucial intersection of roads and railway that makes it crucial for Ukraine’s wider defence of the eastern Donetsk region.
Russia’s main line of advance is travelling up a railway line through the recently captured village of Prohres into Pokrovsk.
Small Russian assault groups are fighting their way up the tracks and able to conceal themselves in vegetation when they become too bogged down by Ukrainian defence forces to continue advancing.
Ukraine’s top military commander believes Russia is seeking to build on its slow, grinding progress by continuing to swell its ground forces in the country.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Moscow has plans to grow its invasion force to 690,000 men by the end of the year, in an interview with the Guardian.
He said frequently “resilient and heroic” Ukrainian units are being defeated by larger Russian groupings.