Russia-Ukraine war shifts further toward remote-controlled combat

The commander of a platoon operating unmanned aerial vehicle systems in Ukraine’s 13th National Guard Brigade, known by the call sign “Druid,” shared the information in an interview with Espreso TV.

“We’ve been in the Kharkiv region for quite a long time. The situation is that the enemy is trying to improve its positions, and we’re trying to push them toward the border. So, basically, we’re operating, let’s say, in a routine/planned mode. Overall nothing extraordinary is happening — we’re just carrying out our tasks and trying to foil the enemy’s plans. There are attempts to infiltrate with small infantry groups, to destroy our positions, artillery, mortars, and UAVs — i.e., activity against our, let’s say, second line — attempts to get their infantry onto our positions, to approach our troops. And we try to repel all these attempts as quickly and effectively as possible,” he said.

The serviceman noted that the war is increasingly shifting to a remote-controlled mode.

“That means cutting off the enemy’s logistics, moving to a greater number of robotic systems — not just drones in the air and on the ground, but a very active development of ground robotic complexes, shifting logistics to them, increasing the number of fiber-optic drones, FPV drones. Accordingly, there is an increase in precision strikes that are not affected by electronic warfare systems. In general, the practice is to increase strike accuracy using drones, expand the number of tasks assigned to drones of various types, and reduce the actual role of heavy armored equipment,” the serviceman said.