Optical fiber from drones of the Russian Federation on the right bank of the Kherson region can wrap the Earth along the equator 5-7 times - expert

Today, 05:19◉ 02 min readEditorial team “SHCHO STALOSIA”

Up to 40 tons and up to 500 thousand kilometers of optical fiber from russian FPV drones can remain on the right bank of the Kherson region. This is the length that would be enough to wrap the Earth around the equator 5-7 times. — Ukrinform.

Optical fiber from drones of the Russian Federation on the right bank of the Kherson region can wrap the Earth along the equator 5-7 times - expert

According to Ukrinform, this was written on Facebook by information and communication technology expert Yurii Antoshchuk.

I obtained such a very general average estimate based on simulations with available statistics on drones as of September 2026.

According to him, optical fiber from drones remains in the fields, in settlements, rivers, on islands and in floodplains. At the same time, we are talking only about the right bank of the Kherson region. According to the expert's model, the total amount of such fiber in the soil can reach hundreds of tons.

Antoshchuk noted that optical fiber is a new type of military garbage: it is durable, almost invisible, does not rot and can remain in the environment for decades. According to him, this polymer thread confuses birds, animals, even fixing nests woven from optical fiber.

Details

As Ukrinform reported, in the fall of 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the right-bank part of the Kherson region, including Kherson. Part of the region, located on the left bank of the Dnieper, is temporarily occupied by Russian troops. At the same time, Ukrainian units maintain their positions there.

What's next

The expert noted that there are currently no accurate data on the scale of pollution, and it will be possible to assess them representatively after the end of active hostilities and access to the contaminated areas. At the same time, according to him, there is no technology in the world for mass cleaning of large areas from such pollution.