Ukraine pushes back Russia's drone ‘kill zone’ to bring tanks back into battle - Telegraph

During an eight-month effort ahead of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Oleksandrivka sector, Ukrainian forces systematically targeted Russian logistics, drone crews, artillery and reconnaissance systems before sending infantry through gaps in Russian lines. Only after the ground had been taken did tanks move in to help Ukrainian troops hold it.

The operation helped Ukraine regain 288 square miles (about 746 square kilometers) of territory, according to The Telegraph.

Rather than eliminating Russia's drone “kill zone” altogether, Ukrainian forces effectively pushed it farther from the front, making areas that had been extremely dangerous for armored vehicles safer to cross.

“It's not that [the kill zone] is gone altogether,” Sam Cranny-Evans, an armor specialist at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told The Telegraph. “It's that the area where it was a problem for [the Ukrainians], they can now move through a bit more safely.”

Striking the system behind the front

Ukraine began by attacking the logistics that sustained Russian forces at different depths behind the front.

Supply routes around 10 miles (16 kilometers) back were targeted to prevent fresh drones and batteries from reaching Russian operators. At 20–25 miles (32–40 kilometers), strikes disrupted artillery supplies, while attacks around 60 miles (97 kilometers) deep targeted the fixed-wing reconnaissance drones used to spot targets for Russian rocket systems.

In May alone, Ukrainian forces carried out more than 200 strikes against Russian logistics vehicles, with some targets more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) behind the front, The Telegraph reported.

“It's essentially a dismantling of Russian forces' ability to sustain their combat power,” RUSI researcher Robert Tollast said.

Ukrainian drone teams then hunted Russian drone crews and targeted radar and electronic warfare systems. Operators repeatedly sent drones into the area, recording where they were shot down and feeding the information into a central system to plan subsequent missions.

Eventually, Russian crews and their electronic warfare equipment moved farther back to avoid being targeted, effectively shifting the most dangerous part of the drone zone away from Ukrainian forces.

Reading Russian soldiers' messages

Ukrainian forces also gained access to messaging apps used by Russian troops, allowing them to read soldiers' reactions as Ukrainian artillery struck nearby.

“We can afford to adjust artillery fire using their messenger app,” a Ukrainian officer told The Telegraph. “The company commander shouts: ‘S---, that was close.’ We keep working on him further.”

Experts cited by the newspaper believe Ukraine may have gained access using drones equipped with fake mobile phone base stations, which could trick nearby phones into connecting and transmitting data. The Telegraph did not say that Ukrainian forces had confirmed this was the method used.

Infantry first, tanks last

Once the drone threat had been pushed farther back, small groups of Ukrainian paratroopers and assault troops moved through gaps in Russian lines on foot. Instead of attacking heavily fortified positions directly, they sometimes bypassed them and pushed deeper into Russian-held territory.

Some soldiers walked as far as 12 miles (19 kilometers), crossing open ground where tree lines had been destroyed or mined. Russian forces also destroyed temporary crossings over rivers including the Vovcha.

Ukrainian troops responded with a simple adaptation: soldiers swam across the river, while drones delivered dry clothes to them on the opposite bank.

Some Russian troops hid or remained in their shelters without realizing Ukrainian soldiers had passed them. That left isolated pockets behind the Ukrainian advance that reconnaissance units later had to clear.

Only then did Ukrainian tanks move forward.

Their role was not the sweeping armored warfare seen earlier in Russia's full-scale invasion. Instead, tanks provided firepower and helped Ukrainian troops hold newly regained ground against Russian counterattacks.

“They're not used in these broad, sweeping offensives that everybody wants to think about,” Cranny-Evans said, describing tanks as being positioned in cover and firing on Russian forces.

Ukraine still lost armored vehicles during the offensive, including at least one U.S.-made Abrams tank, according to The Telegraph. But analysts said Western tanks fitted with additional protection had demonstrated an ability to withstand attacks from smaller drones.

The approach is already appearing elsewhere. Ukraine's 475th Assault Regiment recently released footage of two tanks attacking Russian positions in Vilkhuvatka in Kharkiv Oblast while accompanied by heavy bomber, FPV and reconnaissance drones. The regiment said both tanks returned undamaged despite repeated FPV attacks.

A lesson for Western armies

The experience is also being closely watched in Britain, which supplied Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine and is upgrading its fleet to the Challenger 3.

The British Army's planned 20-40-40 model envisions crewed systems such as tanks providing 20% of its combat power, reusable drones another 40%, and expendable weapons - from artillery shells to one-way attack drones - the remaining 40%.

The principle is similar to what Ukraine demonstrated around Oleksandrivka: use drones and other systems to shape the battlefield before exposing expensive crewed armor to it.

“I don't necessarily think conventional armour has disappeared from the battlefield because of drones,” electronic warfare expert Thomas Withington said. “I think drones have changed the method of employment.”

Ukraine has not restored the kind of large-scale tank warfare seen in 2022. Instead, the Oleksandrivka operation suggests that heavy armor can remain useful on a drone-saturated battlefield - provided that long-range strikes, electronic warfare, drones and infantry first create conditions in which it can survive.