Homemade Ukrainian drones confuse the Russian army in areas under its control

The Ukrainian army is using suicide drones to attack Russian supply lines in southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula.

These attacks come within the framework of Kiev’s efforts to achieve balance on the battlefield and create operational conditions for the gradual liberation of the Ukrainian regions controlled by Russia.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army has intensified its drone attacks on Russian supply lines, especially the supply routes that extend from the Crimean Peninsula to southern Ukraine.

Using homemade and American-made Hornet suicide drones, Ukrainian forces are wreaking havoc on Russian supply lines, destroying troop carriers, fuel trucks, railways, trains, and supply convoys heading to Russian front positions in southern Ukraine.

Supply lines

Targeting an opponent’s supply lines to weaken the forces on the front is a tactic as old as war itself.

Supply lines are often vulnerable to surprise attacks.

The use of drones in the Russian-Ukrainian war has increased the threat to supply routes.

Three years ago, Crimea was in Kyiv’s crosshairs.

In 2023, the Ukrainian army launched a major counter-offensive operation, with the aim of reaching the Crimean Peninsula and liberating this strategic territory that has been subject to Russia since 2014.

However, Ukrainian mechanized attacks faltered in the face of the largest defensive fortifications on European territory since the end of World War II.

Focal point

Today, the situation may be changing again. Ukraine has largely halted Russia’s attacks, including its large-scale spring offensive, and is regaining the operational initiative.

The attacks on Russian supply lines may be preparation for Ukrainian counterattacks in southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula.

The Crimean Peninsula is a focal point in Russia’s war efforts, as Moscow transfers troops, ammunition and fuel from Crimea to the territories it seized in the Kherson and Zaporizhya provinces.

One of the main goals of the Russian war on Ukraine was to establish a land bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula.

Unidirectional attack unmanned aerial systems, also known as “loitering munitions” or suicide drones, have become an essential tool in combat.

Although drones are by no means a new system in battle, and the US military and intelligence community began using drones first for surveillance and then for precision strike missions in the 1990s, their presence and utility on the battlefield has risen significantly in recent years.

New stamp

The war in Ukraine has given a new spin to the use of drones.

Today, the warring sides use hundreds of drones daily in a wide range of missions, including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, attack, strategic strikes, artillery fire observation, and resupply.

Drones can be effective without being too complicated: on the battlefield, for example, small drones costing just a few hundred dollars can pin down an enemy squad for hours.

Likewise, one model of drone used by Russian forces costs about $35,000 each, but is capable of disabling an entire power plant, or requires advanced air defense missiles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to intercept.

The use of drones is changing the way militaries wage war, and Ukraine has demonstrated an understanding of drone warfare, pioneered groundbreaking tactics, and developed new unmanned systems and anti-drone defenses.

About “National Interest”

. Ukrainian forces are wreaking havoc on Russian supply lines, destroying troop carriers and fuel trucks using drones.