Occupation authorities of the "DNR" have accused Ukraine of crashing the OSCE SMM drone, but the Mission does not confirm these accusations. This follows from the analysis of the reports of the so-called "people's militia" (self-designation of the illegal armed formations of the "DNR") and the OSCE SMM report.
In particular, the CADO propagandists stated that according to their intelligence, "the actions of the Ukrainian troops led to the crash of drone of the OSCE monitoring mission in the area of Kostiantynivka" on May 17, 2021.
The Mission confirmed damage to its UAV as a result of jamming of both GPS modules. "At 12:00, immediately upon takeoff from a base in government-controlled Stepanivka (54 km north of Donetsk), the UAV was interfered with by the signal from both GPS modules (estimated as a result of jamming), which continued without a break throughout the remainder of the flight. The observers launched an emergency control mode of the aircraft near Bakhmutske settlement at 12:55 p.m. (government-controlled, 77 km north of Donetsk) and directed it back to the base in Stepanivka… The SMM team performed an emergency landing of the flight device in the field due to the risk of losing spatial control of the UAV… As a result of the landing impact, the tail fin and the tail section of the aircraft body were damaged", - the report says.
The flights of this UAV were "suspended until the completion of technical assessment, including for the presence of any other damage to the aircraft", - the international observers state.
At the same time, the report clearly states that "interference with the GPS signal could have been created from anywhere within a radius of tens of kilometers from the location of the UAV". The Mission's report emphasizes that "the SMM was unable to pinpoint the exact source of the jamming, but it recorded the presence of radio jamming equipment on both sides of the contact line".
As previously reported, the OSCE SMM observers spotted the latest Russian electronic warfare system RB 341B Leer 3 in the occupied territory of Donetsk oblast in April. Representatives of illegal military formations in the Donbas assure that they are fighting solely with captured, that is, weapons seized from the AFU. However, RB 341B Leer 3 has never been in service with the Ukrainian army. It appeared in the Russian army on station after the start of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
REFERENCE. RB-341V Leer-3 is a modern Russian electronic warfare and electronic intelligence complex specializing in GSM cellular networks. A feature of the complex is the delivery of electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems to the target using unmanned aerial vehicles. Developed and manufactured by the Special Technology Center LLC Russian company (St. Petersburg). It is in series production since 2015.