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

Jun 14
For months, Ukraine 🇺🇦 has been conducting a series of deep infiltrations on the Velika Novosilka front.

Some of Russia’s 2025 gains have already been reversed, with the February counter-attack expanding to a 40-kilometer front.

🧵THREAD🧵1/12 ⬇️ Image
As a reminder, in February, the Ukrainian army conducted a discreet offensive for several weeks, clearing infiltrated areas, securing Pokrovsk'e and infiltrating areas that were previously under Russian control. Image
This counter-attack notably secured Ternuvat and prevented the use of Uspenivka to launch assaults on the Zaporizhzhia front.

This significantly slowed the Russian advance, reducing its length from 42 km to 25 km (west of Hulialpole). Image
Read 12 tweets
Jun 13
The Ukrainian 🇺🇦 blocus of Crimea is starting 🇷🇺

After they repeatedly hit bridges connecting Crimea and occupied Kherson oblast, the Ukrainians started implementing a blocus of the peninsula.

Last night, trucks and a pontoon bridge were hit.

🧵THREAD🧵1/15 ⬇️ Image
Last night, the Code 9.2, Phalanx and the davinci units launched multiple strikes against targets in and around the key roads leading to Crimea.
As you can see on the map, only few bridges are connecting Crimea to mainland Ukraine. 6 of them have been reportedly hit including the main ones :

🔸Henichesk bridge
🔸Chonhar road bridge
🔸Chonhar rail bridge
🔸Armyansk bridge (on canal)
🔸Stavky and Myrne bridges (?) on canal Image
Read 15 tweets
Jun 11
Last night, multiple Ukrainian 🇺🇦 units hit the bridges leading to Crimea, further isolating the peninsula from the land bridge to Russia 🇷🇺

At the same time, strike campaign continues on multiple key roads, with over 375 vehicles and trucks hit since early May.

🧵THREAD🧵1/13 ⬇️Image
Crimea is connected with southern occupied Ukraine by multiple key bridges.

The one in Chonhar was hit few days ago by multiple drones, which forced the russians to put up a pontoon bridge for their road traffic.
At least 3 bridges have been recently hit. The one in Henichesk, the ones in Armyansk and in Stavky.

As we can see on the video, these strikes are putting holes in the middle of those key bridges. Any consolidation attempt will probably be hit. Image
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Read 13 tweets
Jun 7
Ukraine 🇺🇦 continues its massive mid-range strike campaign against russian 🇷🇺 logistics.

Since early May, more than 290 russian trucks and vehicles have been hit. I have now mapped 210 strikes since january.

🧵THREAD🧵1/14 ⬇️ Image
The strike campaign is guided by multiple units, using a large veriety of drones.

The backbone of it are the FP-1/2 strikes on key logistics hubs, mainly oil/fuel depots, trains, gas stations, electric substations and rear bases.

Those strikes are often guided with AI. Image
The latest video recently published showcased some strikes around Melitopol (few missed) with Hornet drones.

Interestlingly, everything is not blurred, which helps understanding how they are using those drones.
Read 16 tweets
Jun 5
In southern Ukraine 🇺🇦, Russian 🇷🇺 forces continue their offensive from Hulialpole to Orikhiv, a strategic town

I mapped more than 1 400 Russian airstrikes, supporting multiple offensive axes in May, while Ukraine nearly finished its fortifications.

🧵THREAD🧵1/16 ⬇️ Image
In May 2026, Russia conducted 7 486 airstrikes, I managed to locate 52% of those.

18% of those strikes are targeting ukrainian positions near Hulialpole. We can add as well 6% of related airstrikes in Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia areas. Image
These airstrikes have a very surprising precision (much more than elsewhere on the front), primarily targeting treelines and villages, where soldiers and drone teams are hiding. Image
Read 16 tweets
Jun 4
Ukraine 🇺🇦 continues to launch an important number of mid-range strike, targeting Russian 🇷🇺 logistics in occupied territories

Since early may, more than 270 trucks have been hit, together with multiple fuel depots and trains.

🧵THREAD🧵1/14 ⬇️ Image
In total, Ukraine 🇺🇦 striked around 270 trucks and vehicles more than 20km from the frontline since early may.

I still need to add earlier proofs, but this number is probably closer to 350-400 confirmed losses this year. Image
This strike campaign is only started, progressively scaling. Drones are primarly targeting key roads as well as fuel trucks in occupied territories.

In Crimea, a widespread fuel penury is ongoing after Ukraine's repeated strikes. Image
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Read 14 tweets

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