Key facts
- Ukraine's drone commander Robert Brovdi aims to isolate Crimea by disrupting Russian military supply routes.
- Brovdi claims drone strikes have reduced traffic on the Novorossiya highway by 71% in two weeks.
- He expects Ukraine to achieve complete control over this road within the next month.
- Ukraine's objective is to make it difficult for Russian military and defense industry personnel to operate in Crimea and its access routes.
- Brovdi's forces reportedly destroyed 174 Russian air defense complexes valued at approximately $5.4 billion in the first five months of the year.
Ukraine is intensifying its drone strike campaign to sever Crimea from Russia by disrupting key supply routes, according to Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Commander Robert Brovdi.
Brovdi stated that Russian military cargo traffic along the R-280 "Novorossiya" highway, which connects Russia with occupied Crimea through Mariupol, Berdiansk, and Melitopol, has fallen by 71% in the past two weeks due to Ukrainian strikes. He anticipates Ukraine will achieve total control over this road within a month, aiming to make it extremely difficult for Russian military personnel and defense industry workers to remain in Crimea and occupied territories.
These efforts follow a pattern of Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian military infrastructure in Crimea since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Ukraine has previously sunk Russian warships, targeted munitions depots and airfields, and struck the Kerch bridge, the sole land link between Crimea and Russia. The current focus is on disrupting ground lines of communication, which Russia uses to move troops, ammunition, and fuel to the peninsula.
On Thursday, Ukrainian forces confirmed destroying 50 military cargo vehicles carrying fuel and ammunition on the Russian-occupied Armiansk bridge. Moscow-installed officials confirmed strikes on several bridges connecting Kherson region and Crimea, including the Perekop-Armyansk Road Bridge. The US-based Institute for the Study of War confirmed that these mid-range strikes are disrupting Russia's ability to use supply routes safely.
The intensified strikes have reportedly led to the worst fuel crisis in Crimea since its annexation in 2014. Occupation authorities have tightened restrictions on gasoline purchases, with Sevastopol's governor noting an inability to receive fuel trucks for unspecified reasons. Restrictions were reduced to 20 litres per week from 20 litres per day.