Drones thwarting Russian efforts in Ukraine

 Business Insider:

Russia has been struggling to break through Ukraine's defensive lines, and a new report contains one detail that may help explain why: Whenever Russian troops gather to attack, they're said to be targeted by Ukrainian drones.

The report, compiled by the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, included commentary from an influential Russian military blogger, who was discussing Russian forces' struggle to break out of the current stalemate in Ukraine.

The ISW paraphrased the source as saying on Tuesday that Russian forces were "unable to concentrate in numbers sufficient to break through Ukrainian lines because Ukrainian forces strike all force concentrations larger than a battalion."

It further quoted the blogger as saying that even forces gathering far behind the front line had been vulnerable to attack.

The report said the blogger had credited Ukraine's targeting of Russian troops and armored vehicles with "preventing Russian forces from even reaching Ukrainian forward defensive lines."

Ukraine is on the back foot and is running low on ammunition, with large aid packages blocked by Republicans in the US Congress and by Hungary in the European Union.

Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian positions in areas including Bakhmut and Avdiivka as it seeks to take advantage of the situation and break the stalemate.

But drones have changed the nature of warfare in Ukraine, preventing large numbers of troops from gathering and taking the enemy by surprise.

Ukraine has excelled in the use of cheap hobby drones on the battlefield, using them to surveil Russian positions and fitting them with explosives.

"The more abundant, smaller drones are proving to be serious game changers in that they have given Ukraine better battlespace awareness and more capability to hit targets," the European Council for Foreign Relations said in a recent study.

A US military expert told Business Insider last year that Ukraine had suffered a similar problem when it gathered large units during its summer counteroffensive, with drones allowing Russia to surveil and target them.
...

Despite its losses in Ukraine Russia does not appear to be running out of troops.  Russian wives have been the main people complaining about Putin's unnecessary war in Ukraine.  But drones have been a game-changer in this war that has been used by both sides.  Ukraine now has the capability to use drones for attacks deep inside Russia.

See also:

We have assets to reach Russians where they don't expect it – Ukrainian Air Force Commander

And:

 Estonian army commander says NATO underestimated Russia's ability to produce shells and replenish army

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