Clément Molin Profile picture
Sep 21, 2025 20 tweets 9 min read Read on X
In #Ukraine 🇺🇦 the new underground war

If you want to survive in Ukraine, you must dig and hide. If you are seen outside, your life expectancy is low.

Modern armies must then adapt, to hide artillery, troops, mortars and supply roads.

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Do you remember the "shoot and scoot" strategy ?

It was using western artillery, especially wheeled one like Caesars to fire on russian positions before leaving the area.

This strategy is dead in the high intensity war in Ukraine. Now the Caesars are buried underground.
But why are these ultra-mobile guns no longer used for their "shoot and scout" mission? Because they are quickly spotted and pursued by drones for 10-20 km behind the front.

In a war of position, the greatest danger comes from drones, not counter-batteries, so you have to dig.
This video that I also found on TikTok is very interesting, because it shows us a traditionnal japanese or vietnamese strategy against US Air Power : hiding mortars under the soil, opening just to shoot.

Impossible then, to locate the source of this mortar !
Digging is the main ukrainian strategy to survive and to stop russian army.

Baltic countries, Finland and Poland must also prepare these kinds of fortifications. Image
Any journalist going to Ukraine will show and know how the reality is. If you are not hiding under the soil, you can be killed very fast.

Dones are everywhere and see everything. Some are stopping on the sides of roads to attack logistics.
The current ukrainian strategy is the following :

-strike and kill as much russians as possible with drones
-fortify everything (ditches, barbed row, dragon teeths...)
-dig positions, hide in cities, protect logistics Image
TikToks posted online are also showing these anti-drone nets placed over roads.

The goal is to prevent drones from attacking main roads and logistics. These nets are not infallible, but they help reduce drone strikes on logistics.
In the future, there is even possibility that they will try to even hide the main roads with camouflaged nets, but it will however cost a lot of money...

At least, they are protecting the main roads to the frontline. Image
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If you cannot hide, you must be very fast. This is the reason why both Ukraine and Russia are using motorcycles, quads, buggys and others high speed means to supply the frontline.
Ukraine is now also using ground robots, for different missions, protecting the lives of its soldiers :

-supplies
-fire support
-mine laying
-KIA/WIA evacuation Image
Most frontline villages and cities are destoyed. Here is how they look like. Hiding in houses is not really a solution for soldiers. Image
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Most of the war is now happening underground. Soldiers are sleeping underground, they eat underground, they fight underground, they launch drones underground.

They leave the soil just to fight (not really often) and to leave the position. Image
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On the other side (Russia is attacking), russian soldiers are trying to find solutions.

They are not using armoured vehicles anymore (destroyed before reaching the frontline) but mobile forces (moto) or infantry. Often, they use old abandonned pipelines to infiltrate. Image
To recapitulate, both armies understood the new dynamics of war. If you are not hiding yourself under the surface of the earth, you can be spotted, targeted and killed.

From artillery to infantry and supply roads, you must hide and dig.
In this video, you can see an artillery crew. They just go out to shoot and then hide again, but they need a very big hole, made by excavator.

If you support Ukraine and are willing to help, you can support @Teoyaomiquu fundraisings.

As we are talking, ukrainian excavators are digging massive new lines, expanding defenses and existing lines.

Since 2 weeks, we have located 6 new defensive lines, 2 in Zaporizhia, 2 in Dnipropetrovsk and 2 in Donetsk oblasts. Image
This is my guess of where new defensive lines under construction will be standing ! In green is russian progress in 2025. Image
For Ukraine, Russia and the few countries where drones are more and more used (Sudan, Congo, Mali, Myanmar...), there is no problem saying they are the main threat.

For the others, it's time to understand they can be used for everything and are very dangerous.

-> terrorist attacks
-> air recon over military, industry, airport
-> naval attacks
-> mine laying, bridge destruction
->targeted assassination
->sabotage
...Image
Thank you for following this thread. Don't hesitate to repost and follow me !

What do you want me to talk about in my next threads ? Any other conflict ? I will talk about Congo, in french, in my next analysis. Image

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More from @clement_molin

Apr 1
Despite the smallest progress in 2 years, Russia 🇷🇺 launched a record number of airstrikes, long range drone strikes as well as drone and artillery shelling

These statistics clearly show Russia is preparing a spring offensive in Ukraine 🇺🇦

🧵THREAD🧵1/7 ⬇️ Image
This month of march 2026 saw the smallest territorial progression of russian forces in Ukraine since april 2024.

As you can see, the progress is usually increasing in the spring and summer and decreasing for the winter. (There is a hole in summer 2025) Image
However, this month was also the one with the biggest amount of all kind of strikes on Ukraine. Image
Read 8 tweets
Mar 30
Pourquoi la contre-offensive ukrainienne 🇺🇦 de 2023 a-t-elle échoué ? Qui est le responsable de cet échec, Zelensky ou Zaloujny ?

Cette offensive qui n'a rien achevé porte une responsabilité partagée, ses stigmates sont aujourd'hui encore visibles.

🧵THREAD🧵1/17 ⬇️ Image
L'échec de l'offensive du sud en 2023 est avant tout l'échec de Volodimir Zelensky.

C'est lui et le pouvoir politique qui portent une grande part de responsabilité, en ayant voulu contredire ce que prévoyait le commandement militaire. Image
Le plan Zelensky :

▫️Contre-attaquer à Bakhmout
▫️Répartir ses troupes sur la ligne de front
▫️Attaquer à plusieurs endroits en même temps pour espérer un effondrement russe Image
Read 18 tweets
Mar 29
I now mapped 350 (!) ukrainian 🇺🇦 long range drone strikes into russian 🇷🇺 occupied territory

🔹19 strikes against air-defense
🔹25 strikes against radar
🔹21 strikes against planes
🔹10 strikes against trains
🔹9 strikes against rocket/missile launchers

🧵THREAD🧵1/8 ⬇️ Image
Thanks to the very good job done by @UAControlMap and @UkraineDailyUpd gathering data from geolocators like @99Dominik_ @moklasen @giK1893 and others...

I gathered all those long range strikes into occupied territory since the year started :
In total, 350 strikes, of which 260 strikes against warehouse, antennas, electric transformers and various unknown targets, a lot of which are houses and buildings that can eventually be filled with high value targets. Image
Read 8 tweets
Mar 27
Dams and bridge targeted, drone recon, airstrike campaign, mechanized assault, Russia 🇷🇺 is slowly starting its Sloviansk-Kramatorsk offensive

I mapped more than 4 000 airstrikes from the Donets river to Hulialpole this winter and analysed the troops movements :

🧵THREAD🧵1/20⬇️Image
For now more than 3 years, Russia has been preparing the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk battle.

It was the objective on defeating the Bakhmut-Soledar-Siversk line in 2023, it was the objective during the Donetsk suburbs battle (2024) and the Pokrovsk battle (2025). Image
For 2026, Russia hopes to make strategic advances to the twin cities, from the north (which implies securing Lyman), the south (implies securing Kostiantynivka, Drujkivka and Dobropilla) and the east.

This is exactly what the data I collected is showing : Image
Read 20 tweets
Mar 25
40% of russian 🇷🇺 oil exports are currently stopped after Ukraine 🇺🇦 attacked the Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk crude oil ports.

At the same time, the Druzhba pipeline remains closed and multiple refineries have been hit. This is a big blow to Russia.

🧵THREAD🧵1/15 ⬇️Image
With the war in Iran and the closure of the Hormuz Strait, the oil and gas prices have climbed.

Russia was hoping to capitalize on the situation to sell more oil and gas at higher prices, in order to rebuild its finances.

However, Ukraine acted to stop this.
These last few days, ukrainian long range drones and missiles targeted all 3 western ports used to export crude oil.

The first one is this one, Primorsk, 900km north of Ukraine and 50km from Finland.
Read 15 tweets
Mar 23
Since the start of the year, Ukraine 🇺🇦 dug more than 1 250 km of defenses in the rear areas of the frontline

The "kill zone grid" around the New Donbas Line is quickly expanding. Here is what you need to know and a detailed geographic analysis :

🧵THREAD🧵1/20 ⬇️Image
This is the small town of Shakhtarske in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

You can see one line 5km east of the town, a second one 1km east, which is a ring, going all around, protecting it on all flanks, which will allow it to be a strongpoint. Image
In the south first, you can see here the new fortifications built this year in red. Ukrainian counter-attacks near Pokrovsk'e allowed them to reorganize the defenses of Pokrovsk'e and Novomykolaivka, both of which are now fortified strongholds. Image
Read 20 tweets

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