“Soviet showmanship” instead of countering drones: military’s harsh reaction to the attack on the training ground in Sumy region
21 May 14:13
Russia struck at a Defense Forces training ground in Sumy region, where Ukrainian soldiers were stationed. This was first reported by Russian sources, and on the morning of May 21, the National Guard of Ukraine confirmed the attack. The tragedy resulted in deaths and injuries.
According to various sources, on May 20, an Iskander flew over Shostka, where a firing range was located. It is important to note that this was not a formation exercise, and even more so, not an award ceremony, as the Russian media began to report. The incident is currently under investigation. There was also a harsh reaction from the military, which sees “soviet showmanship” instead of solutions. What do the military, experts and volunteers say? Why are security algorithms still not in place? And how does Putin’s trip to the border region of Russia fit into this tragedy? Read more in the article by "Komersant Ukrainian"
The command of the National Guard of Ukraine assures that an internal investigation has been launched into the tragedy. The commander of the military unit has already been suspended from duty, and all the necessary materials have been handed over to law enforcement agencies.
“The command of the National Guard of Ukraine and law enforcement agencies will give a strict legal assessment of the actions of all officials based on the results of the inspection and investigation,”
– the agency said.
The National Guard reminded that algorithms of actions in case of an air threat had been previously developed and communicated to the units, in particular to prevent the accumulation of personnel.
The investigation should find out why these measures were not fully implemented. The National Guard promises to provide all the necessary information for an objective investigation.
“Not just negligence, but a crime”
Following the report of a missile attack by Russian troops on the Defense Forces training ground in Sumy region, which resulted in the deaths of six Ukrainian soldiers, a wave of outrage swept through the military, volunteers, and bloggers. In their posts, they sharply criticize the command for allowing the accumulation of personnel in a high-risk area.
“Again, the accumulation of soldiers/lining up in the frontline zone. The Russian Federation hit the training ground in Sumy region, where the Ukrainian military were training, with an Iskander. Prior to that, a reconnaissance drone was hovering over the training ground,”
– journalist Andriy Tsaplienko wrote on his Telegram channel.
The military emphasize that this tragedy is not an accident, but a consequence of a systemic problem. Stanislav Bunyatov (“Osman”), a junior sergeant and squad leader of the 24th Aidar assault battalion, called the placement of training grounds in the border areas “at least criminal negligence, and in fact, treason.”
“I won’t go into details, but I consider initiatives to locate training camps in close proximity to the border with the enemy to be at least criminal negligence, and in fact, treason. If the situation in Dnipro can still be called a failure to control the sky in a relatively safe rear, then here we have a cynical execution of recruits,”
– wrote Stanislav Bunyatov.
Volunteer Serhiy Sternenko also expresses his indignation. He says the situation is illustrative.
“It is significant that every time the enemy uses the same scheme to inflict such strikes, and some morons continue to concentrate people in one place and do not bear any responsibility.”
Serhiy Sternenko
One of the officers who used to serve in the Ukrainian Defense Forces and now speaks on Telegram under the pseudonym Officer ✙, told us what the “system’s response” to threats looks like – and why it doesn’t work.
He describes a typical scenario of how the command reacts after such incidents. After the tragedy in Dnipro, when Russia struck at the location of the Ukrainian military, the high command ordered the creation of commissions to check the units: whether they comply with the requirements for dispersal of personnel, response to air raids, etc. But in practice, the officer says, this turns into a mere formality.
“The brigade command, in the best Soviet traditions, is hastily preparing for the inspection. In a few hours, they create fake shelters, disperse the personnel – a major show. Commissions arrive, someone checks something, someone just picks their nose. And the result is zero.”
Officer ✙
The worst part, he said, is that immediately after the inspectors leave, most events are simply canceled. At best, the show lasts for a week, the officer summarizes.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
“Enemy eyes” are still in the sky: an expert on the security failure at the Shostka training ground
Pro-Russian Telegram channels have posted footage that allegedly shows the moment of the strike. The video shows a reconnaissance drone hovering over the territory of the training ground for several minutes. According to preliminary information, the distance to the border with Russia was less than 50 km.
Military observer Vasyl Pehnyo commented on a video circulating on the Internet, which allegedly shows a Russian army strike on a training ground near Shostka in Sumy region. According to him, it is important to refrain from jumping to conclusions and not to accept the narratives of Russian propaganda, but instead to pay attention to two key issues.
“This is Shostka, 43 kilometers from the border. The strike was carried out with the help of UAV reconnaissance. This video does not allow us to draw accurate conclusions about the consequences, so we should not pick up the enemy’s narratives,”
– noted Vasyl Pehnyo.
At the same time, Pehnyo draws attention to two serious problems that require a systemic response.
The first is vulnerability to aerial reconnaissance
“We can see on the video that a large group of our military has been captured by an enemy reconnaissance drone. This is the number one problem. And it is not so much the fact of having a training ground near the contact line as our inability to reliably cover the sky from the enemy’s eyes,”
– noted Pehnyo.
The second is the need to develop anti-drone solutions
“It is critically important to shoot down Russian eyes – drones, spies, wings. This can and should be done with the help of anti-aircraft drones. This technology has already proven its effectiveness. When a drone shoots down a drone, it is both technologically and economically feasible. Instead, expensive missiles for cheap UAVs is a path to exhaustion,”
– emphasized Vasyl Pehnyo.
The observer called for the scaling up of such solutions and the active introduction of anti-aircraft drones, which can effectively destroy both reconnaissance and attack drones of the Russians.
“Russia makes its drones out of shit and sticks, but this does not reduce their threat. We need to respond systematically and quickly – not in words, but in deeds,”
– Pehnyo summarized.
A training ground under attack, Putin at the border: a coincidence that emphasizes the Kremlin’s propaganda logic
In the evening of the same day that the Russian army launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian Defense Forces training ground in Sumy region, the Kremlin unexpectedly published footage of negotiations with the acting governor of Kursk region, Alexander Khinstein. Russian propaganda outlets began to claim that Putin had arrived in Kursk Oblast, although the Kremlin did not specify where the meeting took place.
The propaganda created a picture of “support from the population”: meetings with local residents, volunteers, and officials, to whom the Russian president promised awards, payments, and soft loans:
- putin promised to keep the monthly payment of 65,000 rubles to residents of the border areas “until they can return to their homes.”
- stated that churches in the region “were turned into fortresses by the Armed Forces” and suffered significant damage during the “liberation”;
- instructed the government to consider the creation of a special economic zone throughout the Kursk region;
- and promised to expand the program of preferential mortgages for the local population.
Putin also ordered that those who “made a special contribution to the normalization of the situation in the region” be presented with state awards, including officials, security forces, and “volunteers,” some of whom, according to Russian propaganda, “helped during the Ukrainian occupation.”
The coincidence of the missile attack on the Ukrainian training ground in Sumy region with Vladimir Putin’s visit, or at least the announcement of it, to the neighboring Kursk region cannot be considered a coincidence.
This fits into the logic of the Kremlin’s actions: military operations are accompanied by demonstrative gestures to a domestic audience to show strength, control, and “retaliation.” This synchronization of actions on the frontline and Putin’s public activity is not a new phenomenon, but in this case it is particularly pronounced. And for Ukraine, it is another reminder of the need to systematically rethink security protocols, particularly in the border regions.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
