By: Zerlina Tang

The Russian-Ukrainian War, which began in February 2014, is an ongoing confrontation between Russia and Ukraine that is worsening. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an aggressive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The invasion began with missiles and airstrikes across Ukraine, including Kyiv, and was quickly followed by a massive ground assault. The invasion triggered Europe’s greatest military confrontation since World War II.

And ever since last year, the Russians have been utilizing a Pole-21 electronic warfare device, which disables all satellite navigation over an area of up to 150 square kilometers. That means “we fly by landmarks, we don’t have GPS here at all,” according to Pasha, who heads the Alpha unit launching the RAM II drones for Ukraine.

Ukraine said that a party of troops just approached an abandoned Russian trench line. They discovered the tunnel was booby-trapped with mines as they began to walk through it. The explosives injured all five Ukrainians, and the Russians, who were hidden nearby, opened fire, killing four of them. After other Ukrainian soldiers began firing rounds into the trench, one injured soldier fled. They had been watching a reconnaissance drone broadcast of their friends’ ambush. And because of all the land mines, Ukraine is progressing very slowly on the war. “Mines are everywhere, on the outskirts of the trenches. First, it has to be cleared by artillery, then assault groups will go. If the assault group encounters any resistance, it’s back to the artillery, then back to the assault groups. Very slowly. But this is our reality,” said Ilya, an officer in Alpha’s artillery unit.

So, because all of the troubles they are facing, America and a number of other countries have decided to help Ukraine by supplying them with drones. This type of operation has become a trademark of specialized units such as Ukraine’s Security Service’s “A”, or Alpha, division.

The Alpha fighters are made sure to be well trained and is the most elite forces of the army of Ukraine. However, both sides are currently experiencing losses. The eastern front line, near the besieged city of Bakhmut, is less mined than the southern Zaporizhzhia region’s vast plains.

However, getting close to the Russians remains difficult. Oleh’s men recently made “a relatively shallow entry” into enemy territory near there, and 14 of them were injured, he claimed. “And with our resources, the loss of 14 people is a huge loss for us,” Oleh explained. “Yes, the enemy also suffers losses. But again, are our losses appropriate in these conditions and are they justified? I cannot use these 14 people in other operations in the near future.”

However, the Russians have an upper hand in this war since right now, Ukraine is still trying to handle all the technology their allies have provided for them and even their allies are running out of resources to help Ukraine. So as of right now, Ukraine is still going to be in the difficult position.