A new generation of Ukrainian mid-range drones is severely disrupting the Russian military’s supply lines to the southern front lines, striking bridges, trains and fuel trucks – and giving Kyiv a chance to derail Moscow’s plans for a summer offensive. Video and images of about 150 strikes against Russian fuel tankers, trucks and other vehicles have been geolocated and analyzed by French open-source analyst Clément Molin and the volunteer-run OSINT group Geoconfirmed, as well as CNN’s OSINT team. It’s likely that many more strikes have gone unrecorded. Most have occurred since the beginning of May, in addition to a surge in strikes on other targets such as port facilities and ships. With a range of 50 to 300 kilometers, the drones, all made in Ukraine, are designed to throttle the Russian army’s logistics – adding a new dimension of strikes to Ukraine’s strategy as the war grinds through its fifth year. Among the newly designed drones are the FP-2 and the Behemoth, which has a cruising speed of 180 kmh (110 mph) and can carry a 70 kilogram warhead. “The Ukrainians have obtained the means to start a large-scale drone campaign to cut Crimea from its main supply roads and to complicate Russia’s logistical situation throughout the frontline,” Molin told CNN. In a statement to CNN, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, the military branch which runs its drone operations, said that over the past year the number of mid-range strike missions had risen 28-fold. The aim, it said, is to suppress Russia’s offensive potential; create insurmountable logistical and supply problems for enemy forces; and wipe out Russian air defenses in occupied areas to open “corridors” for longer-range Ukrainian drones. The drone strikes have made several routes between Russia and occupied Ukraine too dangerous to use. The knock-on effect is a shortage of fuel and munitions for Russian frontline troops in southern Ukraine, further disrupting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wartime goals. A highway between Crimea and the city of Melitopol, occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the war, is littered with burned-out trucks and tankers, according to geolocated video. There are also persistent fuel shortages in Crimea. Ukrainian drones have taken aerial control of three highways running along the coast to Crimea, according to analyst Mick Ryan, author of the blog Futura Doctrina and formerly a senior officer in the Australian army. “Petrol tankers and lorries are regularly set alight,” acknowledged one Russian military blogger. “One by one, the links connecting the peninsula to the mainland are being severed.” Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, second from left, attends a meeting between Ukrainian and German delegations in Kyiv, on May 11. Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu/Getty Images Extended ‘kill zones’ Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov calls it a “logistical lockdown” to “systematically destroy Russian capabilities” far behind the front lines and “deprive them of the ability to conduct active assault operations.” “The enemy will no longer feel safe, even at a considerable distance from the line of contact,” Fedorov said last month. Molin’s research suggests the strategy is working. Ukraine has redefined the depth of the “kill zone,” he said, after mapping hundreds of Ukrainian strikes extending up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the front lines. “Roving munitions that fly over key routes and target Russian logistics, particularly military equipment and fuel trucks,” have also been highly effective, Molin said. Twenty trains have been targeted since January 2026, many of them fuel trains, spread across the entire front, he added. Other researchers see a similar pattern. “Geolocated footage in May similarly shows Ukrainian forces striking at least 35 Russian trucks and other vehicles near highways” in Crimea and elsewhere in southern Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War. One example is the most important road route linking Crimea with occupied Ukraine – which uses a bridge near a village called Chonhar. A Ukrainian drone unit has repeatedly struck the bridge and published images of large holes in its road surface. The Russian-backed administration in the occupied Kherson region has acknowledged damage to the Chonhar and other bridges – with traffic repeatedly suspended and inefficient pontoon bridges set up to replace them. Firefighters tackle a fire at a museum on June 10 in Sevastopol, Crimea — home to a major Russian naval base — after the building was damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack. Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev/Handout/Reuters Russian air defenses have appeared incapable of dealing with the threat. Freight traffic using the Chonhar bridge declined 71% in just two weeks this month, according to Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces. The targeting led the Russians to use an alternative route, according to the Ukrainian military, with a large number of trucks carrying military supplies sent further west. That route – through the city of Armiansk – was also hit. “At that point, around 50 vehicles had gathered there,” said Dmytro Filatov, commander of Ukraine’s 1st Separate Assault Regiment. The persistent strikes mean that another bridge, linking Russian territory with Crimea across the Kerch Strait, is now an even more critical artery. Ukraine’s attacks “have increased the importance of the Kerch bridge for sustaining logistics to Crimea. I suspect Ukraine will try to target the bridge with Ukrainian-made drones or missiles,” wrote analyst Rob Lee. The Kerch road and rail crossing, opened by Putin in 2018, has been the target of previous Ukrainian attacks. Cars queue for fuel at a gas station after the authorities restricted fuel sales amid a supply shortage following Ukrainian attacks on logistics routes in Saki, Crimea, on June 1. Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters No-go routes Some highways running from Russia into occupied Ukraine are now off-limits to military traffic because of the threat from these mid-range drones. Russian-backed authorities in occupied Luhansk announced a halt to traffic on two highways from Belgorod and Rostov-on-Don in Russia, critical routes for resupplying the military and occupied territories. “Attacks on the region’s transport infrastructure have become more frequent recently,” it said. Ukraine has also begun targeting the port of Mariupol – a strategic and industrial hub on the Sea of Azov in occupied territory. The port has “been completely cut off from power, and the logistics of Russian troops have been significantly hampered,” claimed the Ukrainian National Guard, which published video of multiple drones striking the port area earlier this month. Russian military bloggers are unhappy at what they see as the Russian Defense Ministry’s sluggish response. Ukraine’s campaign “is knocking out oil refineries in the south, creating fuel and logistics problems, and now the enemy is grounding civilian aviation with ‘caravans of drones,’” wrote one of the most popular bloggers, Two Majors. A Ukrainian serviceman prepares a Gara, a Ukrainian drone equipped with AI elements, before flying it over Russian troop positions near the front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 18. Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters The disabling of Starlink satellite connections among Russian forces has also helped the Ukrainian campaign. But analysts, as well as some in Ukraine’s military, acknowledge the advantage may not last long. “Ukraine likely has a unique and time-constrained opportunity to exploit its current initiative while Russian forces remain vulnerable,” according to the Institute for the Study of War. Even so, in Ryan’s view, Ukraine’s three tiers of drones – on the battlefield, against supply lines and deep inside Russia – “increase pressure on Russian forces, degrade their offensive capabilities, and shape the battlespace for future Ukrainian offensive operations.” Russian forces in southern Ukraine have already lost ground this year, partly because of the greater vulnerability of their supply lines compared to those further north. “The capability to control everything moving through the southern part of the occupied territory, particularly from Crimea” is within reach, according to independent Ukrainian analytical group Deep State. putting Russian forces in the south on a “starvation ration.” The post No fuel, no weapons: How Ukraine’s new drone strategy is mauling Russian supply lines appeared first on Egypt Independent.
