Ukraine's 'Tactical Kill Zone' Destroys Russian Armor Within 25 Kms, Troops In 1 Km

There has been alot written in the past year about a drone wall designed to identify and then prevent Russian advances. And while much of this has proven to be experimental or aspirational, it now appears that in the Kupiansk sector, where Ukrainian forces have thwarted and are now mopping up Russian infiltrators, the Ukrainians have created a 'tactical kill zone' in which 88% of vehicles have been destroyed while operating within 20 to 25 kilometers of the front line. For infantry, moving in smaller groups, that kill zone covers any troop movement within one kilometer of the front. 

The significant implication is that Ukraine can now prevent any attack within that zone before it even reaches the front. They have achieved this outcome before, but in episodic instances, not - as they can now - as a matter of strategic defense near-certainty. Ukrainian drone and command forces are now working to extend that zone to the entire northern theater of war and, eventually, the entire front. Doing so would likely make the possibility of any further Russian military gains in Ukraine extremely unlikely and finally thwart the Kremlin's expansionist ambitions. JL

The Institute for the Study of War reports:

Ukrainian forces created a tactical kill zone that denies Russian forces from using vehicles within 20 to 25 kilometers of the front line or using infantry within one kilometer of the front line near Kupyansk. Ukraine's unmanned systems near Kupyansk can destroy up to 88% of Russian forces before they approach Ukrainian positions. Ukrainian forces could deny Russian advances and enable Ukrainian counterattacks across the theater if Ukrainian forces can replicate the effects achieved in Kupyansk and at greater operational depths
Ukrainian forces reportedly created a tactical kill zone that denies Russian forces from using vehicles within 20 to 25 kilometers of the front line or using infantry within one kilometer of the front line near Kupyansk — a capability that Ukraine should deepen and expand across the entire theater. 

 

A Ukrainian drone unit reported on January 20 that Ukrainian forces created a kill zone using unmanned systems near Kupyansk that can destroy up to 88 percent of Russian forces before they approach Ukrainian positions.[35] The unit reported that unmanned systems deny Russian infantry movement and maneuver within one kilometer of the frontline and deny Russian vehicles and mechanized equipment movement and maneuver within a range equal to or greater than 20 to 25 kilometers from the front line.

 

ISW assesses that Ukrainian forces could likely deny Russian advances and enable Ukrainian counterattacks across the theater if Ukrainian forces can replicate the reported effects achieved in Kupyansk across the entirety of the theater, and at greater operational depths, such that Ukrainian forces deny Russian infantry from maneuvering within even deeper sections of the front line. Ukraine could significantly degrade the effectiveness of Russian infiltration tactics if Ukrainian forces deny Russian forces from operating vehicles within 50 + kilometers of the front line, thereby forcing the Russian infantry to infiltrate greater and untenable distances on foot, for example.