According to Ukrainian military personnel quoted by CNN, Ukraine’s counteroffensive is slowing in part because of Russia’s ability to jam drones.

Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of Ukrainian forces in the south, said the Russians were suffering heavy casualties, but it was clear that progress was slow.

One of the reasons, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Inkhat, is that Russia has a major advantage in electronic warfare.

“Unfortunately, the occupiers got ahead of us in this. You don’t have to shoot down the drone with anti-aircraft missiles or an anti-aircraft gun. It can simply be forced to land, intercepted by means of electronic warfare,” he said on Ukrainian television.

“Russia today has powerful systems that interfere with the work of our defense forces. There are enough such systems. Ukraine has advanced in radio-electronic warfare, but it started late, it was necessary to develop [acest domeniu] earlier,” Inhat added.

He saved the artillery and gave the Russians time to regroup

Specifically, Moscow’s electronic warfare prevented Kyiv’s drones from communicating properly and destroyed Ukraine’s accuracy. This saved the Russians from annihilation when, after overcoming the initial shock wave, Ukrainian forces fought back with the support of the Western bloc, Inside Over reports.

In February 2021, Kyiv controlled thousands of drones; By the summer of 2022, according to RUSA analysts, 90% of them have been knocked down or destroyed. The consequences of this are easy to see: without drones, Ukrainian fire became increasingly inaccurate, buying time for Russian troops.

What systems does Russia use?

It is no coincidence that by February 24, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which was monitoring Moscow’s military buildup, noted the deployment of a large number of electronic warfare systems in eastern Ukraine and around the Russian-controlled Donbass.

Electronic jamming in an improved composition is carried out by the RB-301B “Borysoglibsk-2” type complex, created for receiving radio intelligence and for jamming on high and ultra-high frequency waves, used at ground and air levels. They were in the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation and were identified back in 2015 in Luhansk, EVZ reports.

Also, in 2015, near Luhansk, the R-934UM automatic jamming station was identified together with the F-330KMA control system.

Among the means detected and used by Russia in Ukraine are the Torn and SB-636 Svet-KU systems, capable of detecting Ukrainian units by tracking their radio signals, the RB-341B Leer-3, which combines the Orlan-10 drones, as well as the R-934B “Synytsia” and “Zhitel” R-330Zh radio jammers, which have the task of jamming satellite communications.