'Russia's Pride' Sinking Also Plays a Role... The Key to Ukraine War's Fate

Ukraine Identifies Russian Soldier Casualties Using Facial Recognition Technology and Notifies Families
Ride-Sharing Company 'Uber' Utilizes Passenger-Vehicle Matching Method to Decimate Russian Forces

Appearance of Russian missile-carrying vehicle captured by Ukrainian drone [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] Major foreign media reported that Russia's turning the tide in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine (encompassing Donetsk and Luhansk provinces) demonstrates the importance of electronic warfare in the conflict.

Electronic warfare refers to military activities that detect enemy electromagnetic signals to identify their location and use jamming signals to disrupt or neutralize the operation of enemy weapon systems. It is used in artillery, fighter jets, cruise missiles, drones, and broadly includes military efforts to protect friendly forces from enemy electronic warfare activities.

A representative of the Ukrainian drone special forces explained in an interview with major foreign media, "Russia is jamming everything within reach of their systems, and while we cannot say they are overwhelming us, they are significantly disrupting us."

At the beginning of the war, it was widely expected that Russia would have a clear advantage in electronic warfare, but Ukraine, which lost Crimea to Russia in 2014 and subsequently strengthened its electronic warfare capabilities, has achieved results.

Additionally, effective utilization of satellite information provided by Elon Musk, CEO of the American space exploration company SpaceX, also contributed.

According to the British media outlet The Times on the 8th of last month, the reason the Ukrainian forces were able to bombard Russian troops crossing the Siverskyi Donets River and destroy more than 70 tanks and armored vehicles was thanks to the 'GIS Arta' program. During the engagement, about 50 Russian military vehicles, including tanks and armored vehicles, were destroyed, and 1,000 to 1,500 personnel were killed.

The program is an advanced situational awareness system developed by Ukrainian developers in collaboration with a British company. It is known to be similar to Uber's technology that connects passengers with nearby drivers. The Ukrainian military uses it to identify targets and match them with artillery, mortars, missiles, and combat drones within range to launch attacks.

Furthermore, the program is known to utilize Starlink, the satellite internet service from Elon Musk's SpaceX. Musk reportedly provided the Starlink service after a request for help from Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation.

Moreover, in March, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister revealed to foreign media that Ukraine is identifying the identities of fallen Russian soldiers through facial recognition programs.

While identifying and reporting the identities of the deceased serves the humanitarian purpose of helping Russian families locate the remains of their fallen soldiers, some suggest it also has a psychological warfare aspect. Since the exact number of Russian casualties remains unclear, confirming identities and contacting Russian military families could carry psychological warfare implications.

Major foreign media reported that Ukraine's electronic warfare capabilities helped sink the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which was considered a symbol of Russian pride, on April 14.

On the other hand, Russia's electronic warfare capabilities were initially barely visible in the early stages of the war due to concerns that inexperienced or unmotivated technicians might not operate the systems properly, limiting their use. However, after a humiliating retreat from Kyiv, Russia moved a large amount of electronic warfare equipment to Donbas, which is geographically closer to Russia than Kyiv, making electronic warfare a more critical factor in the outcome on the Donbas front.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.