Ukrainian troops are losing days just getting to their positions in the kill zone. It’s when they’re most at risk.

• A Ukrainian defense official said soldiers lost days to reach their positions in the killing zone.

• They are at greatest risk as they navigate this part of the battlefield, where drones are constantly monitoring them.

• Eventually, as the kill zone becomes more lethal, soldiers may not reach these locations at all.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian soldiers roamed the killing zone for days just to reach front-line positions, a senior defense official told Business Insider. He said this difficult journey could be the most dangerous part of their mission.

The “kill zone” is a frontline area heavily saturated with drones It can target and attack anything that moves, both soldiers and vehicles. It generally extends about 10 to 20 kilometers from the front line, although it is wider in some places, and Ukrainian officials say it is growing.

Oleksiy Vyskub, Ukraine’s first deputy defense minister, said the death zone could double this year. Currently infantry soldiers are losing several days to reach their positions in this deadly region. continuous monitoring and the threat of enemy reconnaissance and attack drones.

navigating what is also described asdead zone“This is the period when Ukrainian soldiers face the greatest threat to their lives,” Vyskub said through a translator in a recent interview, adding that soldiers may not be able to fully penetrate the killing zone in the future.

Ukrainian authorities have started replacing people with drones – especially ground robots — for everyone logistics missions Within the kill zone, given the increased risk soldiers face from above.

The emergence and continued expansion of the killing zone underscores the increasing killing zone. drone surge It comes into conflict as warfare becomes increasingly robotic and Ukraine increases production of uncrewed air and ground platforms.

Andrii Hrytseniuk, CEO of Ukrainian state-supported innovation platform Brave1He said artillery dominated the battlefield in 2022 when Russia began its all-out invasion. More than 80 percent of attacks are now carried out by drones, he told Business Insider.

Most attacks (more than 95%) are carried out by Ukrainian-made drones. foreign supplied modelssaid Hrytseniuk. The defense industry has boomed since 2022, growing from less than 10 drone manufacturers to over 500 today.

of Ukraine extensive drone arsenal It is expanding and becoming increasingly specialized, with systems built for reconnaissance, attack, interception, maritime strikes, land operations and long-range missions.

Some drones rely on radio links, while others use radio links. fiber optic cables To eliminate jamming and newer AI-enabled models can continue searching for targets even after communication with the operator has been lost.

“The number of drones has increased dramatically,” Vyskub said. He shared that Ukraine now delivers tens of thousands of interceptor drones for air defense every month. “They are not used to engage infantry or military equipment.”

Beyond interceptor drones emerging as Ukraine’s cornerstone air defense networkKyiv also prioritizes medium-range attack dronesIt was designed to target Russian positions and logistics to a depth of 300 kilometers.

Ukrainian officials and conflict analysts have praised the ongoing medium-range strike campaign as a successful new phase of the war. Disrupting Russia’s logistics operations in the south, especially around the occupied Crimean peninsula.

“We consciously prioritized this direction, and the results are now visible,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told reporters last month. he said. “Data dashboards already show a clear pattern,” he said. “The more enemy forces are destroyed in operational depth, the fewer offensive operations will take place on the front line.”

Mid-strike drones are “one of the most important technological advantages,” Fedorov said.

Vyskub said the enormous role of technology in warfare and how dramatically it has changed the way we fight is often underappreciated. He added that many commanders lack traditional military training but are strong at working with data, which motivates them. battlefield innovation.

“Traditional, classical warfare with infantry, artillery, and combatants [with] “Each other,” he said, “unfortunately, that’s a thing of the past now.”

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