An unprecedented experiment in modern European warfare: a manhunt that uses civilians as target practice

A matter of trial and error, because practice makes perfect

Since mid-summer they have detected this type of operations in Kherson. The videos show how citizens are used to play cat and mouse with their killer drones. The CIR found that the targets they choose are “difficult to replicate in a test environment.” That is why they establish that lCitizens are being used for target practice. The Russians achieve this refine your techniques and train new operators, while they continue or drop their bombs on post offices, markets, gas stations and humanitarian aid centers. or directly They pursue alone or in swarms to buses, humanitarian convoys, fire trucks and ambulances. Any movement can be an excuse for them to attack immediately.

In Telegram channels the attack locations belong to what they call ‘the red zone’ where they say it is legitimate to attack. Other attack points are schools and electrical substations. «The killing machines, sometimes in swarms, fly over houses, enter buildings and chase people through the streets in their cars, on bicycles or simply on foot. The targets are not soldiers or tanks, but civilian life,” notes the FT. 37 people have died and 498 have been injured or lost limbs. They only get a truce on stormy days.

But drones are not only used to attack directly, others are used to spread anti-personnel mines PFM-1, known as ‘petals’. A reality verified by CIR. This is the case of a local in the area like Serhiy, “he had not heard any drone overhead for almost an hour, but he had not counted on the Russians leaving something in a pile of leaves: a small antipersonnel mine called a “petal.” that flutters down when launched from the air. “I fell to the ground and then realized I was missing a foot,” he told the FT.

The petals They are transported in tubes that hang from small drones that distribute them through the streets, playgrounds and public squares. They look like leaves falling from trees and can be detonated with just five kilograms of pressure. “Children can easily burst them by handling or stepping on them,” CIR states.

Additionally, these drones can carry anti-tank mines, incendiary bombs that are perfect on windy days to spread a fire or RPG warheads. “They have a range of up to 15 km, fly at low altitude and move at speeds of more than 100 km per hour, making them difficult to track and shoot down,” explains FT. And Adam Campbell of the CIR details that drone operators sThey often drop explosives on or next to a vehicle just as someone is getting out of it. “It is likely that this technique is being practiced in Kherson and can be replicated on the front line.”

CIR, which has been in charge of analyzing the images and has already verified 90 videos, tells in its report cases that they have seen such as that of a cyclist dodging on a deserted road an explosive dropped by a drone before pedaling frantically to escape. Or that of a mother of two children from Kherson who was also attacked while riding a bicycle. Now he can’t walk because shrapnel from a grenade is embedded in his leg.

In another video, they describe how after dropping an explosive on a car, a drone operator stalks a person who is running for his life, taking cover under trees and climbing garden fences. in a desperate attempt to escape.

The meaning of this type of operations

Kherson, in southern Ukraine, it would be valuable war booty for the Russians. Let us remember that it was the first Ukrainian regional capital to fall into Russian hands in February 2022, only to be liberated just nine months later by a successful counteroffensive by the Ukrainians. And this would be a propitious moment given that Russia is making important and rapid advances on the Ukrainian terrain.

Officials point out to the British media that this assault is part of Russia’s plan to increase pressure on kyiv before Donald Trump returns to the White Houseaccelerating battlefield gains and preparing for a possible advance across the Dnipro River. At the same time they achieve the transfer of the civilian population who live under constant psychological terror.

Drones used by Russian forces range from first-person view (FPV) drones and Chinese Mavics to larger Russian military Lancets. His presence has ended up being so continuous that in Kherson Citizens now carry small detectors that warn them when they are nearby.

All this happens in the middle of speculation about peace negotiations and about what its terms might be. Reuters reported that Trump’s advisers have proposed three main options for a peace plan that excludes Ukraine’s membership in NATO, and there is also speculation whether they would involve demanding territorial concessions from kyiv, in favor of Putin.