Footage demonstrates drone-targeted shelling of trenches shrouded in foliage
A video shared with RT shows the drone-enabled trench warfare which has become the signature feature of the Ukraine conflict. Surprise Russian artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions came as UAV operators fed intelligence to the attacking force.
The short clip was published on Monday by RT correspondent Igor Zhdanov. The footage was filmed from the air and shows Ukrainian trenches and shelters in forest terrain being repeatedly pummeled by 152mm shells.
The troops try to change location, carrying their wounded with them, but the strikes follow them. At one point, a man who appears to be in his underwear flees a fortified position after it is hit.
The availability of inexpensive drones to both sides of the Ukraine conflict has had a significant impact on the action they can conduct, according to military experts. The real-time surveillance they offer makes tactical surprises extremely difficult. Kamikaze drones add to the threat posed to any gathering of heavy weaponry near the front line. Consequently, the hostilities often involve artillery-intensive positional warfare not unlike what was typical for World War I.
The video appears to be one of a series produced by Amur, a Chechen commando unit currently deployed in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The fighters publish examples of drone warfare in Serebryanka forest; the Seversky Donets River passes through these woodlands, around 20km west of the city of Severodonetsk.
According to the Chechens, their primary opponents are members of the Azov Brigade, the Ukrainian national guard unit that started off as a volunteer Ukrainian nationalist force with strong ties to far-right groups around the world. Azov’s leadership has since dropped some of the Nazi symbols originally used by the unit.
