UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 564 - SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

The Russian Armed Forces have reportedly made significant changes to their command and control structure (C2) in Ukraine to protect the command infrastructure and improve information exchange, although the deployment of Russian forces is likely exacerbating issues with horizontal integration.

The Deputy Director of Analysis at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), Margarita Konaev, and CSET staff member Owen Daniels stated on September 6 that the Russian Armed Forces had relocated their headquarters out of the range of most Ukrainian attack systems and established forward command posts underground and behind heavily defended positions. It is unclear whether the Russian Armed Forces are deploying this more secure command infrastructure throughout Ukraine and to what extent these defensive measures are hindering Ukraine's ongoing battlefield containment.

Konaev and Daniels state that the Russian Armed Forces have improved communication between command posts and frontline units by laying field cables and using secure radio connections. The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests that the Russian Armed Forces are also attempting to enhance signal transmission by wider use of application-based C2 services that require less training. Konaev and Daniels point out that signals at the battalion level and below are still frequently unencrypted and that Russian personnel often transmit sensitive information over insecure channels.

The full Russian Offensive Update 563 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

UNDERSTANDING WAR