In the last days of the battle for Severodonetsk, a sergeant of the National Guard of Ukraine faced a problem: the flank of his platoon had lost protection, so he needed to inform other soldiers about the approach of Russian troops. But he couldn't. There were only two radio stations for 15 soldiers who took up defense along a 200-meter line.. And no matter how hard the sergeant tried, he had no chance to shout over the artillery explosions and machine gun shots..

By the time the Ukrainian guardsman with the call sign "

" We came to the right flank. And the guys who were there have already died, ”he told the New York Times..

The government in Kyiv is asking foreign allies for more precision-guided long-range weapons so they can resist Russia with its firepower.. But the deficit at a much lower, but no less important level, also undermines the ability of Ukrainian troops to defend the territory in the east and win back the lost. The disruption in communication that the General’s unit has experienced this month is not something unusual for Ukrainian forces in the Donbass.. This is a common problem across the front lines that affects almost every aspect of the war: the coordination of actions on the battlefield, the delivery of supplies and the movement of troops..

New York Times journalists have interviewed nearly two dozen Ukrainian soldiers over the past few weeks.. And they all talked about similar problems. The Russians are constantly blocking their radio communications.. The Ukrainian military lacks communication equipment. And often it is difficult for defenders to contact the command to ask for artillery support.. Contacting the Ukrainian unit that is fighting nearby is also a problem.. And sometimes there are situations when the Ukrainian military shoot at each other.

“The ability to coordinate different forces on the battlefield is critical. But both sides have problems with communication and effective command,” said Michael Kofman, director of Russian research at CNA..

After Russian troops created two so-called republics in the Donbas in 2014, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, built on the Soviet basis, had to modernize very quickly. But even now, these efforts have many shortcomings.. Ukrainian detachments are equipped with small domestic drones and some large and modern systems.. They got software to identify targets and control artillery fire. But a wider modernization is not completed. And the Armed Forces of Ukraine still remain in a transitional position. They still use Soviet approaches, although the war has long made it clear what changes are needed.. Brigades of 4,000 soldiers are still fighting independently of each other.. And the ability of lower-level officers to make quick decisions for some units remains only an aspiration for the future..

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The ongoing war of attrition in the Donbass is slowly draining the Ukrainian army of trained personnel. The New York Times recalls that, according to Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian defenders lose up to 200 fighters daily in battles.. As a result, the fronts are increasingly protected by units formed from poorly trained soldiers.. In particular, the fighters of the National Guard and the Territorial Defense are combined into larger brigades and sent to the front lines..

“It is very bad when some units of the National Guard are suddenly sent to the front as reinforcements for other units.. The guys stay there only with machine guns, without security,” said Vadim, the driver of the medical vehicle of the National Guard..

Soldiers say they often find themselves isolated as they find it difficult to communicate with other units or commands that control artillery and tank battalions.. When such reinforcements arrive on the front line, they know almost nothing about the troops in the area, referring to them simply as "

“In my opinion, the issue of communications is a problem, because when we go on a mission, we cannot count on artillery support,” said a Territorial Defense soldier named Kostya, who recently arrived from the front line as part of the rotation. His detachment, consisting of 100 fighters, lost 30 on the very first day at the front.

In the final days of the battle for Severodonetsk, which ended last week as Ukrainian forces retreated to Lysychansk, the 53-year-old sergeant with the call sign " Russian tanks began to advance from the " The Ukrainian platoon, which held the defense in this direction, needed artillery to break these tanks. However, he could not contact the command due to communication problems or due to the lack of an established relationship with the command. Therefore, the fighters turned to the " He, in turn, was able to contact the commander of the unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to which he himself belonged, and asked him if he could contact the artillery battery. But the gunners said they needed the coordinates of the Russian tanks.. The " Therefore, he asked the battalion on the defense line to raise a drone to find out the coordinates of enemy equipment. But it didn't work.

“While I was figuring out whether it was possible to provide artillery support, a battery sat down near the drone. And then the generator broke down, so it couldn't be charged.. And time is over. So the tanks drove and fired at us, ”said the National Guardsman.

Ukrainian troops on the front line often cannot communicate directly with artillery forces supporting them with howitzer and MLRS fire. Therefore, artillery units are often forced to rely on their own drones and intelligence from the United States.. Due to this communication breakdown, soldiers on the front line often find themselves in a situation where they are left alone with the enemy.. Because of this, infantrymen suffer losses, and artillery reacts too slowly to Russian breakthroughs in defense lines..

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The situation is aggravated by the fact that Russia is able to effectively block communication systems. According to the General, two standard radio stations that were in his battalion were constantly blocked by the Russians..

“They send a stronger signal on the same frequency,” explained the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian special forces are equipped with American secure radio stations. And they can be used consistently..

But according to one of the Ukrainian soldiers, such systems emit a stronger signal, thanks to which the Russians can determine the exact place where it comes from.. And thus expose the location of the Ukrainian military.

“That is why we stopped communicating constantly and reduced it to a minimum, we communicate only in cases where, for example, an evacuation or immediate assistance is needed,” said a soldier with the call sign Raccoon..

Ukrainian military says the most reliable communications system they have is Starlink satellite internet. Although they have very little such technology.