Russia loses drone battle in Ukraine

Most of the problems with the provision of military personnel have been resolved, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov said at a meeting with Putin. Nevertheless, dozens of ads appear in Z-public with a collection of various equipment for the Russian army: Soviet field phones, thermal imaging cameras, jeeps, optics, and above all, Chinese unmanned drones (Mavic and others).

The unofficial Wagner PMC Gray Zone channel writes that drones are carried only by civilians, and “MON does not need” quadrocopters. They, like thermal imaging cameras, are not prescribed by statute, wrote the Z channel “Two Majors”, which demanded the establishment of centralized supplies of drones and anti-drone guns for the army.

According to another author of Z-public, political scientist Igor Dimitriev, the methods of warfare by the Russian Ministry of Defense are very outdated, and the army has practically no tactical reconnaissance means – primarily Chinese drones (thousands are needed). The only ones who systematically use drones in the Russian army during attacks are the Wagner PMCs, noted Ukrainian intelligence.

Unlike the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian military announced this week that it will spend $544 million on drones this year. To this end, the government has concluded 16 state-owned UAV production contracts with Ukrainian companies. The agency has received 75 applications for UAV certification from local manufacturers, and 13 UAV models have already been approved for combat use. NATO countries are also helping Ukraine with drones, a system of raising funds for the production of sea and air drones has been built.

The representative of the GUR of Ukraine, Igor Yusov, believes that Ukrainian drones and helicopters are technically ahead of Russian equipment in terms of quantity and quality. The Gray Zone also indirectly sees this. The Ukrainian army has started using ultra-fast (around 140 km/h) FPV racing drones with attached missiles and a payload capable of incapacitating armored vehicles, writes Gray Zone, lamenting that Russia has barely enough operators for conventional quadcopters.