Overview
- The Defence Ministry said Monday it had installed about 822 kilometres of net-covered tunnel corridors on roads this year, with roughly 211 kilometres added in May.
- The State Special Transport Service erects wooden or metal frames over streets and stretches repurposed fishing and agricultural nets to form long, low-cost barriers that catch propeller-driven attack and reconnaissance drones.
- The nets are cheaper and faster to deploy than missiles or some high-tech options, but reporters note repeated drone strikes can tear gaps that allow explosive drones to get through, so the system is not foolproof.
- Russia used similar large-scale net coverage earlier and think tanks and Western militaries are now studying the Ukrainian approach and urging standardised tactics to make nets part of layered drone-defence plans.
- For civilians and convoy drivers the tunnels make previously dangerous road sections passable for logistics and evacuations while officials confront challenges of repairing damaged nets and sourcing donated materials under constant attack.