ISW: Russian Defence Ministry Decides To Help AFU
5- 4.11.2024, 14:27
- 30,494
A strange initiative of the Russian Ministry.
The other day, the Russian opposition publication of ‘Important Stories’ collected several articles by Z-bloggers who were complaining that the Russian Defence Ministry has disbanded unofficial drone units of the Russian Army.
Moreover, those drone operators were transferred to infantry to be thrown into assaults on AFU positions. Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) decided to analyse these articles.
Some Russian war correspondents complained about the Russian Defence Ministry's command that it still favours ‘meat assaults’ rather than remote combat. In some assault companies, only 20 out of 90 men are real storm troopers and the rest are former drone operators.
Another part of the Z-bloggers linked these trends to recent efforts by the Russian Defense Ministry to form ‘united technical battalions of drones’ and the Rubicon Centre for Advanced Unmanned Technologies.
Many Russian Armed Forces commanders fear that by doing so, the Defense Ministry will deprive them of available manpower that can be used for ‘meat assaults’. Moreover, some Russian military observers oppose the MoD's initiative to create a ‘technical battalion of drones’ because there will be no unified communication system between them, which would allow them to coordinate their actions among themselves.
In addition, it would take a very long time for the Russian Defence Ministry to establish unified communication between drone operators and assault teams on the front line. As a result, enemy attack aircraft will be left without air cover.
Not so long ago, Russian war correspondents were already ‘crying’ over the liquidation of two drone operators from the 87th Rifle Regiment, Dmitry Lysakovsky and Sergey Gritsay, after they were sent to one of the assault groups in Donbass.
Analysts at ISW believe that the reduction of Russian drone specialists could also at least temporarily hamper Russian drone operations if the Russian MoD continues its efforts to centralise them.