UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Oct. 7 — North of Kharkiv oblast, Russian forces deployed an elite drone unit called Rubicon, said the analyst of the 13th Khartiia Brigade with call-sign “Rybka” during an interview with Hromadske Radio.

“This moment was really painful for us, but now it’s easier to operate,” said “Rybka.”

“Rybka” said that Rubicon aims to destroy a logistics supply route for the Ukrainian army in this part of the region.

The situation in northern Kharkiv region, where Khartiia Brigade operates, distance from the frontline to Kharkiv is 30 kilometers (19 miles) / Photo: DeepState

He added that Russian troops are also using electromagnetic warfare (EW) complexes Shtora, which can mute the signals controlling first-person view (FPV) drones.

Russians started to use “Shtora” EW complexes actively in the summer of 2024 to disrupt drone-to-operators video transmissions, according to Defence Express.

Ukrainian soldiers gave the name “Shtora” (“curtain” in English) to these complexes because curtain-like pictures appeared on the drone operators’ screen.

First, it was unknown what the complexes looked like. In the winter of 2025, Serhii Beskrestnov, a consultant in the field of military radio technologies, reported that Ukrainian forces successfully identified them. Russians call them Silok-01 and Cheburashka.

“Rybka” also said that Ukrainian forces have already learned to deal with complexes like that because drone operators know what to expect and Ukraine’s own FPV technologies are developing.

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