'FPV Is Close.'
Tour the drone-harried front line in Kursk Oblast with a Russian propagandist.
Alexander Sladkov, a correspondent for Russian propaganda publication Izvestia, took a trip to Kursk Oblast and discovered for himself what Russian troops in the Oblast already knew: Ukrainian drones are everywhere all the time.
Sladkov arrived at the front line in Kursk nine weeks after a strong Ukrainian force invaded the oblast and quickly seized 400 square miles of Russian territory. Russian brigades and regiments have been counterattacking since last month—and slowly chipping away at the Ukrainian salient, especially on its western edge.
It’s dangerous duty for the attacking Russians. Ukrainian surveillance, bomber and kamikaze drones are a constant threat. At an abandoned hamlet somewhere in Kursk, Sladkov’s military minder monitored the sky with a radio-frequency detector.
Between the detector and nearby observation posts, the minder had a reasonably good idea when a Ukrainian drone was nearby—even if he couldn’t see it. “They drop on everything they come across,” the minder mused. “Groups of infantry, sole soldiers, vehicles.”
The detector picked up a signal. “Let’s move away,” the minder told Sladkov and Sladkov’s camera operator in a video translated by Estonian analyst War Translated. “FPV is close.”
The Russians scurried into an abandoned building. Sladkov lit up a cigarette, but his minder wasn’t so reassured. The building’s walls were thick, but the roof wasn’t—and any experienced Russian soldier knows that FPV warheads are getting more and more powerful. Powerful enough to bust a smallish building.
“Let’s stand in the corridor,” the minder urged. The Russians huddled in the hallway, the minder checking in with nearby troops to find out if anyone had eyes on the Ukrainian drone. One scout reported hearing a drone but not seeing it—and the drone sounded like a bigger surveillance drone rather than a smaller FPV.
“If you see it, reach out,” the minder instructed the nearby troops. Sladkov smoked. His minder fidgeted. And the camera rolled the whole time, capturing the essence of a war that’s increasingly fought by tiny drones you might hear but not see … until they strike.
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