Ukrainian soldiers at the front are using steel command posts that can protect them even from Russian air strikes
5 November 2024 11:49
Faced with almost constant Russian bombardment in the east with guided aerial bombs, the Ukrainian military has begun using steel command posts dug deep into the ground for protection. This was reported by Newsweek, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Such shelters in the form of large metal barrels are manufactured by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front initiative, which has also developed steel shields for Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles provided by the United States.
Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer of the Metinvest metallurgical company, told journalists a story about a group of Ukrainian soldiers who were hiding in a metal barrel several meters underground when one of the deadly 250-kilogram Russian bombs fell nearby. The six soldiers spent several days under the piles of soil. Several days passed before they were found, but the protective steel shield saved their lives.
According to Oleksandr Myronenko, it takes about a week to make one of these steel barrels. About 600 barrels have already been made, 14 of them are already in use on the front line, and the rest have been delivered to combat brigades. Several of these steel barrels can be connected together in a more complex structure to create a “steel command post.” Such command posts can house headquarters, store weapons, or provide sleeping quarters.
These shelters have already been used along Ukraine’s defense lines near Pokrovsk, as well as in Luhansk and Kherson regions.
Underground command posts are vulnerable to direct hits from Iskander ballistic missiles, but other projectiles and drones generally cannot reach underground protected sites.
