“Kyiv is relatively close to the Russian border, and from the Belarus side they can set up relay stations,” Marko said.
“The modules on Shaheds that can create a mesh network can maintain communications at distances of 150 to 170 kilometers in good conditions. So controlling Shaheds and via a dynamic mesh network in Kyiv Oblast is absolutely technically feasible.”
Marko said Ukrainian electronic-warfare systems detect the towers used to control the drones, after which those stations are targeted and destroyed, usually by another drone. But he warned that destroying a relay node does not prevent another from being placed nearby later.
“Intelligence identifies the location of this modem and it is destroyed, typically by a loitering munition or a drone,” he said.
“But that doesn’t guarantee that, at the next attack a week
later, a control module won’t appear on a neighboring tower somewhere and start
transmitting again. We might only be able to find and destroy that tower after
they have already flown, reached their target, and done their work.”