Ukraine needs more drones and better tactics, says commander

KYIV: As winter looms and Russian forces adapt their tactics, Ukrainian troops need to double down on technological innovation and flood the front line with more drones to halt Moscow’s territorial gains, a senior commander said.

Oleksandr Pivnenko, head of Ukraine’s National Guard, said Russia continued to have the manpower advantage after nearly four years of war in Ukraine, but Kyiv and Moscow had parity in drones in key battlefield areas.

“It is not easy for us now. I think it will be consistently difficult ... because there is wet mud, it will be harder to drive,” Pivnenko told Reuters in an interview.

Late autumn and early winter are traditionally difficult for both armies because fields, tracks and roads become difficult to negotiate in wet weather. In very cold temperatures, the earth hardens, improving manoeuvrability. “We need to stop the enemy more as they approach on foot, so that they do not infiltrate, and do not let them through,” Pivnenko said.

“If we carry out these tasks with greater density on the front line and the enemy infiltrates less deeply, it will be better for us.”

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, fierce fighting has raged along more than 1,200-kms of front lines. Russia says it now controls about 19 per cent of Ukraine.