Before the advent of FPV drones, the battalion’s defense line at ground zero was built in several lines — echelons.
These echelons were equipped with platoon and company strongpoints, which included trenches, dugouts, and bunkers. This defense system is spelled out in current statutes, which were drawn up based on the experience of past wars.
- The 1st echelon formed and held the front line, where riflemen, machine gunners, and grenade launchers worked. Platoon and company strongpoints were set up there.
- The 2nd echelon supported the first echelon with mortar and anti-tank missile fire.
- The 3rd housed command posts, artillery, and headquarters, where assistance was provided to the wounded.
The Russian-Ukrainian war changed the approach to defense.
Drones became the main means of destruction: FPV, or drones with a warhead. They are extremely effective in overcoming defenses if they are built as described above.
The front line (first echelon) as such no longer exists — instead there is a "gray zone", which is fully visible from reconnaissance UAVs and in which drones destroy everything — from equipment to dugouts.
Defense is also complicated by the insufficient number of people in units. Platoons are often staffed by a third. Instead of 30 people, a platoon may have only 5-10 fighters.
In such conditions, units build defenses using a fundamentally different system.
- In the “gray zone”, observation posts are placed on the most likely routes of enemy movement, usually located in forest belts. These are camouflaged holes occupied by two to four fighters. Their task is to observe and report to the command what is happening around their observation post. They play the role of eyes and ears for the units holding the defense behind.
- Behind them (in the conventional second echelon) are camouflaged crews with heavy machine guns and easel grenade launchers, mortar crews, and drone crews: reconnaissance “Mavic” drones, strike “Mavic” drones, and FPV. Drone crews are often placed in cellars or camouflaged dugouts, while mortar crews are placed in dugouts with a sliding roof.
Since almost all front-line units are undermanned, they usually have no reserves. In addition, it is sparse. The enemy finds weak spots in it (usually at the junctions of the defense areas of different units) and infiltrates deep into it.
Therefore, both drone crews and mortars can enter the shooting battle. For the same reason, engineering work, such as mining, is carried out not in the “gray zone”, but deeper — to slow down the enemy who has overcome the line of observation posts.
This defensive structure allows you to hit the advancing enemy while slowly rolling back.
The battalionʼs defense area stretches for approximately 3.5 km and passes through several forest belts.
«Babel'»
The basis of Ukrainian defense is drone crews. Therefore, effective Russian tactics are based on the search and suppression of Ukrainian drones.
One of their methods is an attack by a mechanized column. The essence of this method is to quickly break through the line of observation posts of the Ukrainian defense several kilometers deep and land attack aircraft there. It is at this distance that Ukrainian drone calculations usually operate.
This tactic can be implemented in the fields of the southern Donetsk region. There are almost no natural obstacles there — forests, ravines, ravines or large cities. This allows armoured vehicles to move as quickly as possible.
The attack takes place in several stages. In the first, a large column of equipment is formed. In the second, it is divided into several columns. In the third, the columns are deployed in groups, pass the observation post line and land the infantry. The surviving Russian equipment then retreats.
«Babel'»
As a result, 20-30 Russian attack aircraft appear in the conditional rear (behind the joint force) of Ukrainian positions. They disperse in different directions, look for drone crews, and if they have not had time to retreat to reserve positions, they engage them in battle.
In this way, they disrupt reconnaissance and destruction, force reserves to be transferred, and drone crews to be pulled back. This means that the entire line of defense is also pushed back.
The enemyʼs tactics work due to mass and speed.
Even if FPV calculations destroy one column, several more can enter our positions during the day. During peak periods in 2024, the enemy carried out up to six attacks per day, simultaneously advancing infantry assault groups.
That is why in some sections of the front, Ukrainian troops lost positions and retreated to a depth of 5-6 kilometers. The Russian army inevitably loses equipment and people.
Fighters of the "Black Wing" unit of the 116th Motorized Rifle Brigade work with dumps from a dugout in the Kupyansk direction, August 2025.
116 омбр / Facebook