In Pokrovsk, Ukrainian soldiers use jammers against Russian drones

In eastern Ukraine, fighting is intense around the city of Pokrovsk. The Russian army is using kamikaze drones to break through the front line. Jamming systems have saved the lives of several Ukrainian soldiers.

In Ukraine, fighting is still raging around the city of Pokrovsk. Moscow has made this strategic hub its priority. On the ground, Ukrainian soldiers have to deal with multiple attacks by Russian kamikaze drones. These devices, piloted remotely and equipped with explosive charges, are wreaking havoc. This is why the Ukrainians are now equipping themselves with anti-drone jammers. A device that saved the lives of soldiers encountered in Pokrovsk.

You have to imagine what the sky looks like on the front line. Sergo, a seasoned Ukrainian soldier, describes it to us. “We see these drones every day, every night. Like constellations, like swarms of bees.” So to escape attacks by kamikaze drones, the Ukrainians are massively installing jamming systems on their vehicles. “There’s the control box. Four antennas, four switches. And there, the system operates on four different frequencies,” describes the military.

In the back of Volodymyr’s pickup, a control box is connected to a battery and connected to antennas fixed to the roof. Once switched on, the jammer emits waves that disrupt the trajectory of the kamikaze drone. “It can rise suddenly or go sideways and suddenly crash.”

Concrete example, a few weeks ago. Volodymyr is on board his pick-up with a friend. “We saw a drone coming in front of us and heading straight for our windshield, says Sergo. It came down as it approached our car and then it lost its orientation thanks to the jammer. It fell in the middle of the road. It exploded 10 or 15 meters from us.” And without the jamming system, “The vehicle would have been damaged, and the consequences for us, God alone knows. Injuries, serious injuries or death.”

Sergo also escaped several attacks thanks to his jammer, like the day two drones tried to target his vehicle. “We were in the car, he remembers. The first drone came straight to our windshield. We saw it. We tried to maneuver to avoid it. And the system made it fall next to us. The second one fell into the trunk of the pickup. But it didn’t explode. We were lucky.”

But these jammers, often cobbled together by the soldiers themselves, are not infallible. And when Sergo is asked if he has lost comrades in these drone attacks, his voice breaks. “I prefer not to talk about that”he concluded.