Ukrainian drone crews are increasingly targeting military, industrial, and logistical sites deep inside Russia, aiming to bring the war home to the Russian public and pressure President Putin into negotiations.
Ukraine's increased use of long-range drones to strike deep inside Russia aims to bring the war home to the Russian populace, potentially increasing pressure on President Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict. These attacks also force Russia to stretch its air defenses and disrupt its logistics.
Waves of Ukrainian drones targeted a large logistics center outside Moscow overnight, leaving it ablaze the following morning. Simultaneously, Ukrainian drone crews in southern Ukraine prepared and launched approximately 20 small, explosive-laden drones toward Russia. This rare glimpse into Ukraine's expanding war effort, observed by Associated Press journalists, highlights the country's tactic of using long-range drones to strike military, industrial, and logistical sites deep within Russia.
The commander of the 413th "Raid" Unmanned Systems Regiment, Yevhen Karas, stated that his unit participated in the strike on the Wildberries warehouse, one of Ukraine's largest attacks on Russia to date. Karas believes that inflicting greater casualties on Russia is necessary to achieve a stable peace and hopes that these strikes will pressure President Putin into negotiations. Kyiv's strategy aims to make the Russian public feel the war's consequences.
Karas, a former philosophy major whose brother was killed defending Kyiv, was appointed commander of the newly formed regiment in 2024. The unit, which began with reconnaissance drones, now employs domestically produced FP-1 drones with ranges exceeding a thousand miles for long-range operations. The unit's members come from diverse backgrounds, including a former opera singer and a computer programmer. Their medallion features a stylized arrow on one side and a depiction of the Kremlin in flames with a drone flying over it on the other.