Even deep in the forests of rural Germany, Ukraine’s conscripts aren’t safe from the prying lenses of potential enemy drones. At a secret location outside the German capital, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are running through a six-week crash course covering the basics of trench warfare and urban fighting. As they train, unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles regularly buzz above the canopy of trees.
The German military — which has its suspicions about who is sending the drones — has a response: Instead of intervening, the Ukrainians are told to incorporate possibly hostile UAVs into their training as preparation for the front lines of eastern Ukraine where they’ll be facing Russian drones trying to kill them.
“We assume at least some of these drones to be steered with unfriendly intentions,”
said Lieutenant Colonel Roland Bösker as he walked through the densely wooded training area.
While the skies were clear of drones on the day POLITICO visited, Ukrainian troops kept glancing upward as they darted toward makeshift trenches under a cacophony of machine gun fire and grenades (all blanks).
Jamming the drones isn’t easy.
“It is technically impossible to block all frequencies that can be used to steer drones,”
said Bösker. Deploying geo-fencing jammer technology would also disable the radios used to communicate across the training area, and sophisticated spies will always find a way into such a large area.
“Compare it with tank armour,” Bösker said. “There will always be some kind of ammunition that can pierce even the best armour.”
While Bösker can’t be certain that the UAVs are tied to Russia, the clear suspicion is that it’s part of Moscow’s effort to destabilize and demoralize Western allies supporting Kyiv.
It’s not just drones. Instructors have been contacted by strangers as part of suspected honey-trap operations too, Bösker said.
The all-day, all-weather drills in the forest are part of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), set up in 2022 with the aim of training 60,000 Ukrainian troops using instructors from 24 countries by the end of this year.
This former East German military barracks is one of two major centers being used. The second is in Poland.
The drones are suspected to be part of Russian efforts to monitor and potentially demoralize Western support for Ukraine. According to Bösker, completely blocking drone incursions is “technically impossible” without disrupting the military’s own communications.
The training is part of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), which aims to train 60,000 Ukrainian troops by the end of 2024. At the German facility, recruits ranging from young men to those in their 40s and 50s undergo intensive six-week courses covering trench and urban warfare.
Instructors emphasize constant aerial awareness to prepare soldiers for the drone-heavy battlefields of eastern Ukraine.
“It needs to be like breathing,” one trainer explained.
Photo: Ukrainian soldiers during training. Credit: Ukraine’s General Staff
Sources: Politico; Euromaiden Press