NYT: Russians have an advantage on the battlefield due to more drones

The New York Times has published a detailed report by its correspondents on what is happening on the front line in Zaporizhzhia region, where Ukrainian troops launched a counteroffensive in the summer and are now forced to defend themselves and protect their previously won positions.

According to the authors of the publication, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have switched to defense along almost the entire length of the front, except for one area on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, where they are holding a small bridgehead and trying to advance.

One of the interlocutors, a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign "Tablet," described the situation as "something like a game of ping-pong."

"There is a 100-200 meter stretch of land that is constantly changing hands," said "Tablet."

The NYT's interlocutors write that the morale of the Ukrainian army remains high, but they are tired and their ranks have thinned significantly due to constant losses.

According to the military officers with whom the reporters spoke, Russian attacks have become so intense in recent weeks that any activity near the front line has become more dangerous than ever.

Russian air strikes, which use bombs carrying 500 kilograms of explosives, remain particularly destructive.

"They are dropping them in pairs, eight in an hour," a 27-year-old Ukrainian soldier with the call sign "Kit" told the publication. He said that the sound was like "the gates of hell opening."

According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian town of Orikhiv, located near the front line, recently served as the command center of the Ukrainian army's counteroffensive, but now it is almost empty, with many craters from heavy explosions and buildings destroyed.

The NYT reporters describe in detail the widespread use of drones by Russia, which made it impossible for the military to move in the open during the day.

At the same time, the Russian military uses drones not only to strike at the Ukrainian military, but also to organize sabotage. According to Tablet, the Russians sometimes reproduce the sound of gunfire from drones to make the Ukrainian military think they are being attacked and reveal their positions.

Some Ukrainian soldiers also say that Russia uses drones to drop tear gas grenades. Some Ukrainian soldiers were wearing gas masks during one of the attacks, but others ran out of their trenches to escape the gas and were killed by other Russian drones flying overhead, one witness said.

Despite all the difficulties, the Ukrainian military remains optimistic and continues to hunt down Russian equipment and soldiers with their own drones and other means, the authors write.

Background. As reported, Ukraine reported the destruction of a railroad bridge being built by Russians near Mariupol.