Ukraine’s Third Army Corps uses ground and aerial drones for night mine work before daytime assaults in northern Donetsk, commander Serhii Tischenko told Business Insider. He said darkness hides ground vehicles, while daylight helps spot Russian FPV drones.
The corps says its Operation Vivaldi offensive has so far seized about 50 square miles around Lyman. It says one ground drone can lay a minefield more than 1,300 feet deep in two days, compared with two weeks for a human crew; Tischenko said his unit carried out mining missions along about 18 miles of the front during the operation.
Tischenko said a heavy aerial bomber can drop up to 40 anti-personnel mines per sortie. A typical night could involve five sorties at distances of up to 10 km; he said a mining crew in his battalion could conduct about 130 sorties a month.
