RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia creating dedicated drone force – Putin

Russia is in the process of establishing drone forces as a separate branch of the military, President Vladimir Putin has said, revealing that up to half of all battlefield kills in the Ukraine conflict come from UAVs.  

The president made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with top military and civilian officials dedicated to Russia’s armament plan for the next decade. Unmanned systems have been playing a crucial role on the battlefield, and the scope of their use is only growing, Putin stated.  

“They are capable of destroying armored vehicles, entrenchments, communication systems, transport, and enemy manpower. Our drone operators are currently responsible for a significant portion – up to 50% – of the destroyed and damaged enemy equipment and facilities,” the president said.

Apart from the direct combat use, drones are widely employed for reconnaissance, electronic warfare, mining and demining, the president noted.

Russia is currently in the process of forming a dedicated drone force, Putin said, adding that its development and deployment must be as “swift and top-notch” as possible.  

“I believe we have accumulated good experience in order to create this branch of the military. We are talking about training personnel, production, and deliveries of modern devices capable of enhancing the combat capabilities of our troops,” the president said. 

The establishment of the new branch of service – the Unmanned Systems Troops – was first announced last December as part of the effort to boost the use of unmanned technology on the battlefield. At the time, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said the branch would be formed in the third quarter of this year.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian refugees in Sumy fear Russian advance, shelling

Margaryta Husakova, her broken arm secured in a metal orthopedic fixation device, smoked nervously as she sat on the staircase of a refugee shelter in Sumy, a city in northern Ukraine, contemplating what the future holds.

In May, Husakova, 37, a mother of eight, lost her mother, sister, and uncle in a Russian drone attack on a van near the town of Bilopillia, west of Sumy. Nine people died in total and Husakova was among the five wounded.

"A man pulled me out of the bus, emergency services arrived, and I was sitting there on the grass," she said.

Despite talk of peace, the war is creeping closer to Sumy, a regional capital of 250,000 people, located just 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the border with Russia.

After the bus attack, Husakova and her family fled their native town Bilopillia, now a target of Russian artillery, and sought shelter at a refugee centre in Sumy.

"What’s next? We’re sitting here, but if they offer us somewhere else, we’ll go with the children," she said.

Her father, Vyacheslav, expressed worry about the future.

"I don’t know what’s next … the most important thing for me is to take the children away, because katsapy will come to Sumy too,” he said, using a pejorative term for Russians.

Russia, which controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has seized over 190 square kilometres (73 square miles) of the Sumy region in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open-source maps.

Russian troops have captured more ground in the past days, advancing to around 20 kilometres from Sumy’s northern suburbs, bringing the city closer to being within the range of long-range artillery and drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address on Thursday, said Ukrainian forces were "gradually pushing back" Russian soldiers in the region, but offered no details.

The number of displaced people arriving in Sumy is increasing, said Kateryna Arisoi, head of Pluriton, a non-governmental organization that operates the shelter for internally displaced people.

“We are seeing the frontline slowly moving toward Sumy,” she said. "So far evacuation has been ordered in more than 200 settlements."

Last week, a Russian rocket attack on Sumy killed three people and injured 28, including three children, while also damaging several buildings.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of civilians have died in the three-year-long conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

RT/Reuters