Russia creates reconnaissance and strike complex in Zaporizhzhia sector: Details
Photo: The Russian army has created a reconnaissance and strike complex in Zaporizhzhia (Getty Images)
In the Zaporizhzhia sector, the Russian army has created a reconnaissance and strike complex. This is an Iskander launcher battery on duty in the occupied Crimea plus reconnaissance drones, says Serhii Musiienko, Deputy Commander of the Rocket Forces and Artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“They (Russians - ed.) have their reconnaissance UAVs in the air all the time - Orlan, Zala, Supercam. There are a lot of them in the air all the time. We feel it on ourselves,” he said.
Musiienko explained how the reconnaissance and strike system works.
“If any of these drones detect a target in the Zaporizhzhia sector, the time from fixing it to striking it with Iskander is up to 20 minutes. That is, if their reconnaissance drone is on duty over Dnipro or Zaporizhzhia, there is a risk of a strike within 20-30 minutes. The only rational countermeasure to this is to destroy the drone,” he said.
According to him, the Ukrainian Armed Forces faced this problem because Russian troops were hunting Ukrainian missile and air defense units, but most of their strikes were on false targets.
“Artillery is an all-weather branch of the military, we use different types of ammunition, with different depths of impact, with appropriate reaction times - we have all of this. But if the skies are not closed, we will not be able to perform tasks when Russian troops can hit a target with an Iskander with a reaction time of 20 minutes,” he added.
Situation in Zaporizhzhia region
In October, several Western media outlets reported that Russian troops might be planning a large-scale offensive to take control of Zaporizhzhia. The spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vladyslav Voloshyn, said that the Russians had concentrated about 200,000 troops in southern Ukraine, including the occupation forces in Crimea.
Several of RBC-Ukraine's interlocutors in military and political circles fear that the occupiers may launch an offensive within the Zaporizhzhia region. According to the sources, the theoretical areas of attack are Huliaipole, Orikhiv, and Kamianske, where Russian subversive reconnaissance groups have recently become more frequent.
In November, the situation in the Zaporizhzhia region became increasingly tense. The Ukrainian Armed Forces expect a Russian assault any day now.
