A Ukrainian elite unit staged a daring mission over three days on the front line to steal a Russian tank suspected of carrying drone-jamming technology.
Putin’s forces have been making gains in the past few weeks on the battlefield using their T-72 tanks to take advantage of warmer weather and harder ground to punch holes in Ukrainian lines.
Fighting back against the armoured onslaught, Ukrainian soldiers have had remarkable success using drone technology to seek out and destroy the massive enemy tanks.
The David vs Goliath-like tactics have only been hampered when drone supplies have been low, but there are also mounting concerns about Russia deploying jamming technology to block the drone signals.
According to the Telegraph, a recent daring raid by Ukraine’s elite Azov brigade targeted a Russian tank which had “strapped to its turret an awkward cluster of antennae and radio transmitters”.
Writing in the paper, American military correspondent David Axe, said it was likely the attachment on the tank was something the “Russians hoped would block the radio signals connecting the Ukrainians’ FPV drones to their operators sitting in a trench, bunker or building miles away. This jammer obviously didn’t work, but the Ukrainians wanted to know why.”
Mr Axe explained the Ukrainian unit managed to clear mines around the tank and, under artillery fire from the Russians, they daringly “managed to drive the tank back to the relative safety of their own lines, and inspect the jammers”.
According to an Azov soldier the jammers were a new “makeshift” type, but were still unsucessful. Even Russian defence bloggers have complained their attempts at blocking the Ukrainian drones “has long been outdated and does not cover the enemy’s new frequencies”.
Ukraine’s bid to turn the tide against the recent Russian advances could be set to get a major boost after US politicians in the House or Representatives agreed a massive funding package over the weekend.
President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the US will send badly needed air defence weaponry once the Senate approves a huge national security aid package that includes £50 billion for Ukraine.
Zelensky said in a posting on X that Biden also assured him that a coming package of aid would also include long-range and artillery capabilities.
