Ukraine Uses Nets to Stop Russian Drones

Sometimes, the most complex of problems have the simplest of answers. And it appears that Ukraine is adopting this mantra in its war against Russia.

As the war drags on with Russia, the one problem Ukraine has

been facing is the barrage of drones from the troops across the border. In fact, Russia has fired more than 6,000 drones on Ukraine in July, more than any other month since it launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the AFP news agency and the Kyiv Independent reported.

So, how is Ukraine battling this onslaught? Whether you believe it or not, Kyiv is relying on a technology millennia old: a fishing net. Here’s how.

Russia’s barrage of drones against Ukraine

Since the beginning of this war in 2022,

drones have been the go-to weapon for both sides. The Vladimir Putin-led troops have resorted to the use offirst-person-view [FPV] drones — which are packed with explosives and are manned remotely by pilots, allowing them to be directed with deadly accuracy against soldiers, as well as military vehicles and equipment.

The Russians have been using them to create a vast “kill zone” where nothing can move without attracting the attention of swarms of kamikaze drones.

Smoke rises after a Russian drone hit

the market in the town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. AP

Moreover, in recent times, Russia is using FPV drones connected by thin threads of fibre-optic cables. This makes it impossible to jam them because their pilots do not use electronic signals to control them, making them deadly in the war.

In recent months, Russia has intensified its drone war against Ukraine. News agency AFP notes that in July alone, Russia fired 6,297 long-range drones up by nearly 16 per cent compared with June. The Kyiv Independent reported that Russia launched a record 6,129 Shahed-type drones in July, 14 times more than in the same month last year, when Russia launched just 423 drones.

In fact, July 9 has been marked as the day with most number of drone strikes — a whopping 741 drones. For Ukrainians, these drone strikes have become lethal and the stuff of nightmares.

Fishing nets to the rescue

Facing an onslaught of these drones, Ukraine has turned to the humble fishing net as its first line of defence. Across

towns and cities, Ukrainian troops are installing thick netting and referring to them as anti-drone tunnels.

Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Kravchuk, the head of communications for the Ukrainian Army’s engineering forces, said, “Ukraine is now building drone tunnels across the entire frontline, from east to south.

A Ukrainian service member walks on a street protected with anti-drone nets, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters

“Even if the netting

does not provide a 100 per cent guarantee, it significantly complicates the enemy’s task because more drones have to be spent on one target,” he told Ukrainian media.

Interestingly, Ukraine’s first use of fishermen’s nets came as an accident. A video from December 2022 shows a Russian Lancet drone that had fallen on the camouflage netting of a stationary Ukrainian tank without detonating.

In fact, some experts note that it was Russia who began using the fishermen’s nets, albeit on a limited scale in mid-2023. At that

time, Russian troops used the nets to counter small attack quadcopters that Ukraine deployed to strike soldiers and vehicles.

Then as Moscow surged ahead in drone attacks, the Ukrainian army adopted the tactic and made it its own.

A bus stop under anti-drone nets in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

And now, Ukraine is trying to cover swathes of its land with these fishing nets to create what soldiers call “net corridors” that offer vehicles a safer passage. The New York Times reports that the project has slowly reshaped Ukraine’s frontline landscape. Roads once lined with trenches and barbed wire are now also draped in mesh suspended from cables strung between poles.

Even military vehicles are fitted with these nets so that if a drone hits it, it causes minimal damage.

Speaking on this tactic, Andriy, the commander of the military construction crew, told The Times, “Right now, this has proven to be very efficient against FPV drones. Larger drones will tear

through, of course, but it can still hold them back a bit.”

Echoing similar sentiments was a serviceman from the Separate Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard, Mykhailo Ardashyn. He told Kyiv Post that the fishing nets have become “a salvation for the preservation of equipment and personnel.”

A view of anti-drone nets installed over a road in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka. A lot of these nets have been donated by fishermen from Europe. Reuters

But where does all this netting come

from? A lot of the nets being used are donated by fisherman from Europe. “All kinds of nets are extremely useful. Ukrainians are resourceful and find a use for every net we can get to them,” Bernard Christensen, a member of a Polish-Ukrainian aid organisation, told Swedish media.

In fact, fishing nets from Denmark, which were banned from UK waters after Brexit, are reported to have made up a significant share of the nets used and are estimated to be worth €2.5 million (Rs 25.56 crore). One such donor is Carl Futtrup, who lives in a town on the

western edge of Copenhagen, Denmark. He said that he saw an unusual request from the Ukranians in the trenches while spending time online. He said that the request was for nets — thick ones strong enough to stop drones.

Following up on this, he approached the fishing village of Thyborøn, which just happened to have 450 tonnes of those nets sitting unused at the harbour. The rest, they say is history.

Not a foolproof plan

Despite Ukraine using these fishing nets to catch drones, the plan isn’t a 100 per cent

defence against Russia’s drones. These nets can’t protect entire cities all at once. The proof is the town of Sumy where Russian drones targeted the main administration building in the central square in recent weeks. The building was attacked twice overnight on July 25, while there were another two strikes the next day.

A military car with netting drives on a road under anti-drone nets installed by Ukrainian servicemen at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk region. AFP

Even Zachary

Kallenborn, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies noted inThe Economist that these nets have obvious limitations. He said that while they can protect small, stationary units like radar systems, they are not a practical way to defend large targets or moving vehicles.

However, he noted that these nets provide a simple defence against a rapidly proliferating threat. They may not be foolproof, but they are better than nothing.

With inputs from agencies