Forbes: Ukrainian soldiers can't defend themselves against the Russian army's most powerful weapon

Ukrainian electronic warfare capabilities have largely nullified Russia's advantage in the war, namely - precision-guided bombs, Forbes writes.

By jamming signals between bombs and their navigation satellites, the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) is causing some of the Russian Federation's most dangerous weapons in the war to often miss their targets. This advantage in electronic warfare for Ukrainian forces, however, is not possible to apply everywhere. Signal jamming is not as effective in Russia, especially in the Belgorod region, according to Forbes analyst David Axe.

This week, a Russian Air Force fighter jet managed to deliver a precision strike on a dam near Ukrainian positions near Popovka in Russia's Belgorod region, where Ukrainian brigades had begun an invasion.

According to Axe, citing Russian military sources, the attack used the new, most powerful bomb, the ODAB-500 - (thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb or vacuum bomb) a high-precision munition that spreads a flammable aerosol and then ignites.

However, the analyst notes that this is a rather strange choice for destroying the dam, since its thermobaric effect is most destructive to human bodies - especially in a confined space.

"To destroy "To blow up a dam and flood the surrounding area, you have to hit the mud and concrete with a high-explosive ground-penetrating munition. Very big. Such a bomb is in some ways the complete opposite of a weak thermobaric bomb," he explains.

This could mean that the target of Tuesday's attack was not the dam itself, but Ukrainian troops who were in the open near it or hiding in nearby trenches or bunkers, the analyst points out.

And, unfortunately, the electronic warfare (EW) systems that protect many other Ukrainians from such bombs are apparently not working in the Belgorod region and were unable to deflect the ODAB-500 used from the target, Ax notes.