ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — Some of Ukraine’s most elite special forces are now operating slightly back from the front line — with virtual-reality glasses that give a drone’s-eye view.
That sort of operation has become a trademark of special forces units such as the Security Service of Ukraine’s “A,” or Alpha, division, which recently granted Washington Post journalists rare access to their teams assisting regular military brigades in Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which now stretches across the country’s southeast.
The struggles of the Alpha fighters illustrate the steep challenges the Ukrainian military now faces at every level — even among its most elite and effective units — as it runs into a Russian force that has prepared and adjusted since its repeated missteps last fall when Ukraine recaptured large swaths of territory in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
The head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, recently confirmed that its specialists were responsible for attacking the Crimean Bridge last year, a dramatic strike that temporarily disrupted a key Russian supply route. The service has also been behind recent sea drone strikes on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, according to a Ukrainian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The entire Alpha division has just one artillery gun, a 105mm British L119 that’s currently in the Zaporizhzhia region, used by a group that calls itself “Tiger Woods,” because its strikes are as accurate as the American golfer. At a base near the town of Orikhiv, the fighters have a satellite image of the Zaporizhzhia plains divided into squares. Often the fighting, they said, is taking place in the thin tree lines that separate each field.
Rather than contending with minefields, where Alpha has achieved greatest success is with loitering munitions, which range in size and cost. The three-man team that destroyed the antenna tower focuses on targets related to Russians’ jamming ability and communication infrastructure. In preparation for the Ukrainians’ counteroffensive, the Russians concentrated more of their electronic warfare systems in the Zaporizhzhia region, Pasha said. It’s made him yearn for a change of scenery.
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Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »