On July 28, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine spotted for the first time “four distinct electronic warfare systems” near the Russian occupied village of Chornukhyne, some 620 kilometers southeast of Kyiv.
According to its new report issued on Aug. 11, the OSCE detected units that were identified as Leer-3 RB-341V, 1L269 Krasukha, and RB-109A Bylina units as well as mobile anti-drone system Repellent-1.
The systems were seen for the first time by the mission, the report says, adding that during another flight over the same area on Aug. 2 the OSCE drone did not spot the same systems.
All of the units reportedly discovered by OSCE appear to be modern Russian-made electric warfare systems that are currently operated by the Russian military.
The Leer-3 systems were designed in Saint Petersburg to suppress Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications within the radius of up to six kilometers by the use of one or two Orlan drones. Also, the complex is capable of detecting and mapping GSM devices and conducting aerial reconnaissance. Since 2015, the Leer-3 system is operated by the Russian army.
The Krasukha-2, also an advanced electronic warfare system used to impose radio-blocking countermeasures on battlefields, is produced in Bryansk and operated by the Russian military since 2012.
The RB-109A Bylina was initially put in action by the Russian army in 2017 during the Russo-Belarusian Zapad-2017 exercises. According to newspaper Izvestiya, Russia’s Ministry of Defense intended to provide first batches of Bylina systems to some of the army’s radio-electronic warfare formations. All of Russia’s radio electric warfare units are planned to be fully equipped with these systems by 2025.
Repellent-1 systems are designed to suppress small-size drones and are produced by the Scientific Technical Center for Radioelectric Warfare, a Moscow-based joint stock company that univocally demonstrates its close cooperation with Russia’s Defense Ministry and as being part of Russia’s defense production complex on its website.
Russian electronic warfare systems such as the Leer-3 were repeatedly spotted in the Russian-occupied Donbas area and reported about by open-source investigative groups such as InformNapalm. For instance, in early April 2016, InformNapalm published a video supposedly showing another Leer-3 complex deployed to the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk.
Just days before its latest report, the OSCE also detected on Aug. 10 truck convoys entering and exiting Ukraine during the night through an uncontrolled section of the Donbas border with Russia, pointing to more evidence of Russia’s military presence in eastern Ukraine.
Despite the overwhelming evidence that emerged over the past four years, the Kremlin still consistently denies its involvement in the war that has killed over 10,000 people since the spring of 2014.
