Kyiv is putting the Russian military in a “logistical lockdown” the country’s defense minister says.
KYIV — Ukrainian drones are hitting trucks on key roads in the occupied south of the country used by Russia as a land corridor to Crimea, posing a growing challenge to Moscow's ability to resupply its troops.
The attacks are the result of a change in strategy by Ukraine thanks to its growing ability to produce drones with a range of 100 kilometers to 300 kilometers — so-called mid-range — able to hit Russian targets well behind the front lines.
“We’re launching logistical lockdown for the Russian army and increasing middle strike capabilities to destroy Russian military power deep behind the frontlines," Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a statement on Wednesday. "Our goal is to increase pressure on Russians to make them stop assault operations.”
The 412th Nemesis Brigade of the Ukrainian military's unmanned forces said in a statement on Tuesday that the P-280 road running from occupied Mariupol near the border with Russia through Melitopol and on to Simferopol in Crimea is under concerted attack.
Clips on social media show dozens of burned-out Russian trucks along the road as Ukrainian drones fly above the area, which lies more than 100 kilometers from the front lines. However, that footage does show truck traffic continuing to move on the highway.
"The pace of the Russian offensive has slowed significantly," said an analysis by the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies.
The Ukrainian attacks are a sign of the growing capabilities of Ukraine's drones, buttressed by increasing production, which has freed Kyiv from relying on uncertain arms supplies from its allies.
“Since the beginning of spring, mid-range strike attacks cleared Russian air defense in the region, and it allowed us to fly over to any point in temporarily occupied territories,” Topot, a commander with the 7th Battalion of Ukraine's Magyar’s Birds — a unit specializing in drone warfare — told POLITICO on Tuesday.
"Now getting to those highways is a matter of one hour for us," said Topot, identified only by his call sign.
Fedorov said that Ukraine's campaign has "increased the destruction of enemy logistics, warehouses, weapons, command points, and supply roads in operational depth," claiming that Ukrainian intelligence shows that destroying logistics targets reduces Russian assault operations.
Earlier this week, Russia’s military bloggers and local Moscow-installed officials reported increasing numbers of Ukrainian drones hitting targets on major roads connecting Russia with Crimea through occupied Ukraine. Authorities urged locals to stay away from highways.
"We not only complicate movement, but generally prohibit movement on any road in the temporarily occupied territories," Topot said.
Ukraine’s drone interdiction campaign in southern Ukraine is disrupting Russian logistics, creating shortages of goods and fuel that are directly degrading Russian combat capability in the region, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank, said in its latest war assessment.
“Ukrainian forces launched a concerted campaign interdicting key Russian ground lines of communication and railway logistics in occupied Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts in Spring 2026, which are degrading Russian combat capabilities and facilitating Ukrainian advances in the area,” ISW added.
Ukraine has built up a formidable capability in short-range drones that have made much of the front lines a no-go zone for Russians and their equipment. It is also conducting an increasingly successful long-range campaign hitting Russian oil refineries, ports and other strategic objects deep in the country.
Now Ukraine is building up its mid-range strike drones thanks to a strategic decision to boost funding for the development and production of such weapons. What's not clear is if Ukraine can continue to sustain this type of campaign over the longer term.
Kyiv's offensive has been helped by Starlink's decision earlier this year to shut off Russian access to its satellite communications system, hampering Moscow's ability to coordinate both attacks and defense. Ukraine has also systematically degraded Russia's air defenses, allowing easier access for its attack drones.
“The scale of losses forced the Russian command and the occupation authorities to limit the movement of heavy equipment along the so-called 'Novorossiya' highway. The enemy’s attempts to use field and dirt roads for detours are also futile — Ukrainian drones successfully detect and eliminate targets on any terrain,” the Nemesis Brigade added.
Russia accused Ukraine of hitting civilian targets, according to the state-controlled TASS news agency
The drone attacks are part of a broader Ukrainian effort that has seen its military push Russia out of some 590 square kilometers since the beginning of this year — reversing some of Russia's bloody gains from last year — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement to the nation on May 22. Independent analysts, including ISW and the Centre for Eastern Studies, back the contention that Ukraine is making small battlefield gains.
“Ukrainian positions are really stronger now than in previous years,” Zelenskyy said.
Despite some localized success for Ukraine, the Russian army continues to attack with drones and missiles — hitting major cities and also aiming for logistics targets throughout the country while its forces inch forward in northern and eastern Ukraine. However, Fedorov said that every square kilometer gained by Russia costs about 200 soldiers dead and wounded for the Kremlin.
“Dynamics show that Ukraine has significantly slowed the enemy’s advance and is gradually regaining the initiative. At the same time, we are increasing active operations and liberating territory,” Fedorov said.
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