- Russia keeps sending armored vehicles out without the tools to fight off Ukrainian drones to the dismay of Russian war bloggers.
- Russia has lost numerous armored vehicles to enemy drones.
Russian war bloggers are mad at Russian military leadership for sending armored vehicles to slaughter, seemingly unprepared for the drone threat.
"A different management style and different tools are needed," a Russian military blogger wrote on Telegram on Sunday, adding that "poor quality of management has been and remains the main scourge that slows down the approach of our victory and leads to unjustified losses."
The recent critical commentary comes after footage of a battle on Jan. 30 in which Russia suffered severe vehicle losses emerged. The footage of the fight shows Ukrainian first-person-view drones bombarding Russian forces on the ground in Novomykhailivka, Donetsk Oblast along with artillery fire and anti-tank missiles.
Yesterday, south of Novomykhailivka, a large Russian mechanized force attempted to storm Ukrainian lines.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 1, 2024
Ukrainian drones tracked it kilometers behind the front, eventually swarming with FPV munitions, artillery, and ATGM fire.
Russian forces suffered catastrophic losses. pic.twitter.com/BpJrah0ePb
Other Russian military bloggers have expressed frustration with the outcome of the Jan. 30 battle, according to a recent assessment from the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank.
"The fact that armor is now going into battle without electronic warfare is a negligent attitude towards armored vehicles and personnel," a military blogger wrote on Telegram. "Until they invent installations that will destroy drones on approach, we need to abandon the idea of deep tank breakthroughs."
The same blogger suggested that Russia's military should send fewer armored vehicles and instead, send out more small groups of soldiers onto the battlefield with drone support.
"I don't see any other way forward," they said.
Military bloggers have previously slammed Kremlin propagandists for failing to call out Russian military failures. The bloggers have also criticized commanders for their "complete stupidity and incompetence" when it comes to being prepared against Ukrainian drones.
Reports on the fighting around Novomykhailivka say that in a matter of just a few hours, Russia lost a number of tanks and armored fighting vehicles, with many of them falling to the cheap, exploding FPV drones that dominate the battlefield.
Both the Russian and Ukrainian military use loitering munitions and drones. Short on ammunition, Ukraine has increasingly used these as supplemental strike options and to improve the accuracy of weapons by, according to some soldiers, up to 250 percent.
Drones have become so prevalent all along the front lines that both Russian and Ukrainian forces are finding it difficult to advance forward.
"Nobody knows how to advance," a drone operator told the Guardian recently. Another soldier previously told The New York Times "it is extremely dangerous to go by car." They said that "you can only go in on foot."