Working on a cover-up: how the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway is protected from drones

The Donetsk-Horlivka section of the highway has become notorious for attacks by Ukrainian kamikaze drones. It remains dangerous despite the fact that the front is constantly moving away. Air defense units are defending against enemy drones here. One of the fighters of the cover group personally destroyed 43 enemy UAVs with accurate fire. Izvestia saw how the air surveillance post of the 23rd separate anti-aircraft missile Division of the 51st Guards Army of the Southern Military District was operating at an important road junction and found out who was shooting down Ukrainian drones and with what weapons.

What does the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway look like?

The Donetsk-Gorlovka highway has been opened and closed again for civilian traffic over the past year. The road runs parallel to the line of contact and is the shortest route connecting the two largest cities of the Donetsk People's Republic. The enemy has been trying to cut the highway since 2014. And although the road itself remained under the control of the DPR militia, by the beginning of the special military operation, the front was in some places several hundred meters away from it. And the strongholds were set up under bridges and overpasses when the battles for the Avdiivka industrial zone, located nearby, were going on for years.

Today, sections of the old defense line have been cleared and dismantled by engineers. But the most amazing thing for those who are used to driving along the Gorlovka highway is the road works. They are interrupted at times of threats, but there are already areas with new coverage. But the restoration of bridges destroyed during prolonged fighting has not yet begun.

The entire route is guarded by anti-aircraft gunners and electronic warfare specialists. Of course, there is no absolute protection on many kilometers of road, but it has become much safer: at the worst time, there was a period when days when fewer than five cars burned down on the road were considered calm.

How the highway is protected from enemy drones

Several people with different weapons are on duty at the air surveillance post: from rifles for defending against FPV kamikaze to portable anti-aircraft missile systems for destroying large aircraft-type UAVs.

— We use everything that shoots to destroy drones. There are rifles, machine guns, MANPADS. This is the perfect shotgun for me," says Private Alexander Petropolsky, smiling and holding up a 12—caliber double-barreled shotgun. — There are night lights and heaters (night vision devices and thermal imagers. — Ed.), scanners, but there's nothing better than eyes against the sky yet.

Alexander is from Donetsk, and he has been an artilleryman at the front since 2014. He left the service after his wife was injured during the Ukrainian shelling, and she needed help while recovering. And at the beginning of his military service, Alexander returned to the DPR army as a volunteer and joined the air defense.

— Before the service, he was the head of a church in Donetsk. I am a churchman, and I have a theological education, but I do not have a dignity. Of course, I serve with your blessing, and we fight," says Alexander.

On the belt of the machine gun, he shows a neat large inscription "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." Next to his watch, he has a prayer ribbon on his left wrist. They were very often worn in the militia at the beginning of the war in Donbas. He still wears it, neatly hemmed in places where the fabric has worn off over the years of fighting.

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The space between the overpasses is covered with many layers of camouflage and anti-drone networks. Raids are still quite common, and security measures are not superfluous. Mobile air defense groups operate on buggies to support permanent air surveillance points or cover equipment. Nikita, 27, one of the most effective drone fighters with small arms, works in one of them. Unexpectedly, he doesn't have a gun, but a PKK light machine gun with a thermal imaging sight, a weapon that is quite rare today.

— Probably due to the fact that I'm big enough, this machine gun seems light to me. And, accordingly, it is quite easy for me to work from it with my hands. I have 42 FPV drones and an attack wing on my account today," Nikita says.

43 aerial targets is a very high score for the shooter, considering that this is only a personal score, without taking into account group shooting or the use of other types of weapons.

Nikita began his fight against kamikaze drones, covering his equipment. I learned how to take pre-emption and anticipate the movement of attack drones.

— I come from Donetsk, I believe that it is the duty of every man to protect his home. I joined the army in 2018, then quit three years later, and when I started my military service, I came back and thought, why stay at home? I went voluntarily," Nikita explains.

With the help of a thermal imager and tracer cartridges, he indicates the direction of fire to other shooters in the dark. And due to the heavy barrel and large ammunition, it can fire for a long time. Therefore, he is not going to switch to a gun from the usual PKK yet.

— The tasks are very different. There may be a mobile patrol, we can move around populated areas, protecting a given area of airspace. There are tasks to protect equipment in positions," Nikita lists.

Suddenly, several drone detectors are triggered. There is a shift change at the air surveillance post, and several people immediately throw weapons into the air or reach for surveillance devices. The detectors do not show the direction, only the approximate distance to a possible aerial target, which still needs to be seen.

The drone can enter not only from the direction of the front, from where it is more logical to expect it: while searching for targets, they can also go along the road itself to quickly attack the first possible vehicle. Or, for surprise, move from the rear. But the signal disappears quickly enough — most likely, the suppression systems on one of the passing cars were triggered.

By the time the enemy kamikaze UAVs reach the Gorlovka highway, they have almost no battery power. It is the capacity of the batteries that limits their range of action. Therefore, they do not have time to choose targets and "hunt". The anti-aircraft gunners explain that if an enemy kamikaze arrives here, it will attack the first car it sees.

This is one of the reasons for civilian casualties: Ukrainian operators do not choose targets, for them all vehicles here are enemy. At the same time, they see where they are pointing their UAVs and quite deliberately attack regular buses or ambulances, which certainly cannot be confused with army trucks.