Frontline report: Ukraine’s electronic warfare thwarts Russian aerial and ground advances in Avdiivka

Day 643 On 28 November, there were a lot of updates from the Avdiivka direction. Here, after Russian forces moved into the small industrial zone demolished by artillery fire, they ran into numerous problems, such as a lack of shelters, absence of reconnaissance due to extremely powerful Ukrainian electronic warfare in the region, and constant Ukrainian counterattacks from all sides. Previously, Russian sources reported that Russian forces breached the Ukrainian defense in the small industrial zone and established total control over it.

On 28 November, some Russian sources acknowledged the presence of Ukrainian troops in the area and claimed that Ukrainians continued holding several strongpoints and resisting the Russian attacks.

Ukrainian sources released footage showing the defense of one such strongpoint. Ukrainian fighters from the 110 Mechanized Brigade posted a video showing how they conduct artillery strikes on Russian forces in the industrial zone. Persistent artillery fire turned the industrial zone into ruins. Given that there is virtually no cover, Russians need to use armor to push forward. However, as stated by Ukrainian Avdiivka Military Administration Head Vitaliy Barabash, Russian forces are actually struggling to use a large amount of military equipment due to weather conditions. Later, Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesman Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun confirmed that Russian forces had reduced the number of armored vehicles operating in the Avdiivka direction and increased the number of pure infantry attacks instead. Such attacks already led to significant losses. A Russian fighter filmed a video showing that the roads have turned into mud and became unsuitable for heavy equipment and also showed numerous fallen Russian soldiers on the side of the road. Ukrainian General Tarnaskyi reported that in the aftermath of pure infantry attacks in Avdiivka with no armor and drones, Russians incurred 514 losses in one day. In fact, the inability to use drones in the region became one of the biggest Russian problems. As it turned out, Ukrainians have a very dense coverage of electronic warfare systems that do not allow Russian drones to even reach the industrial zone, let alone Ukrainian positions around it. Apart from powerful stationary electronic warfare systems, Ukrainians also use man-portable ones to hunt down Russian drones in the peripheral areas or areas behind small hills where the stationary systems can’t reach. As shown in the videos, Ukrainians have acquired many trophies, including kamikaze drones. The kamikaze drones are neutralized and later used against Russians.

Ukrainians also published footage recorded by the captured Russian drones. The videos show precisely how Ukrainian electronic warfare influences Russian drones. As you can see, the moment the Russian drone entered the region, the transmission of the picture is either interrupted or completely suppressed. If the drone reaches the area with more powerful signals, electronic warfare hijacks the drone and forces it to land on the ground. In the case of anti-drone guns, the drone can be landed more carefully and preserved for later use. In light of such developments, namely, bad weather that does not allow the use of heavy armor and electronic warfare systems that do not allow the use of drones, Russian analysts became even more pessimistic about the prospects of the Russian bridgehead. Russian sources started claiming that capturing this industrial area would not make further offensive operations easier for Russian forces, as Russian forces would need to develop offensives on Avdiivka’s other flanks or mobilize more personnel to achieve rapid and decisive results.

Russian analysts concluded that Russian advances over the past week do not immediately threaten Ukrainian forces and largely do not affect Russian efforts to capture Avdiivka but simply extend the frontline. Overall, the Ukrainian command made the right decision to withdraw from most parts of the demolished industrial area. Given the absence of reasonable shelters on the territory of the plant in the aftermath of devastating artillery fire that turned everything into rubble, and also bad weather and Ukrainian electronic warfare superiority, Ukrainians managed to create a perfect kill zone for the Russian forces, which is confirmed by the lack of enthusiasm of Russian analysts to continue offensive in this direction. In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Read also:

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