Ukrainian drones have turned the highway along the Azov coast into a “road of death”
The R-280 highway along the Azov coast, which Russian occupiers use as a key supply route, has turned into a “road of death” due to systematic attacks by Ukrainian drones.
This is the road that the occupiers call “Novorossiya,” connecting Rostov-on-Don with occupied Melitopol, Mariupol, and Crimea, and is one of the main land supply routes for Russian troops bypassing the Kerch Bridge.
In recent months, Ukrainian forces have significantly hampered traffic on this route by using drones to strike Russian convoys.
Since late May, according to sources, civilian traffic on the route has nearly ceased, and dozens of destroyed Russian trucks and fuel tankers have piled up along the road.
According to Robert Brovdy, commander of the Unmanned Systems Force, the volume of Russian military transport on the route has fallen by 71% in just two weeks.
The effectiveness of the strikes is also confirmed by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), who note that Ukraine is significantly limiting Russia’s ability to resupply its forces in the south.
According to analysts, the tactic of so-called “medium-range strikes” is being employed within a 20–200 km radius of the front line, utilizing modern technologies:
- Hornet drones equipped with artificial intelligence, capable of autonomously detecting enemy equipment at distances of up to 150 km
- Ukrainian-made Morrigan drones, launched by catapult without a runway
- remote mining, which allows for striking moving enemy equipment
As a result of constant attacks in occupied Crimea, a fuel shortage has been reported, traffic across the Chongar Bridge has been temporarily halted, and Russian logistics in the southern sector are losing stability and backup routes
As The Guardian notes, the Ukrainian side is consistently implementing a strategy of a complete logistical blockade of Russian troops.
Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov previously stated:
“Ukraine’s strategic goal is to create a complete logistical blockade of the Russian army.”
In addition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the number of long-range strikes on Russian logistics has increased severalfold compared to the beginning of the year.
The R-280 highway is increasingly turning into a zone of constant destruction, leading to a sharp decline in the effectiveness of Russian military logistics in southern Ukraine.
This is reported by The Guardian.
As a reminder, Russian troops are gradually withdrawing from their positions on the Kinburn Spit, which at the start of the full-scale war was considered one of Russia’s key strongholds in southern Ukraine.
Russian troops failed to capture Kostiantynivka by May, but continue to make tactical advances in this direction.
As a reminder, the Russian army’s losses over the past 24 hours amounted to 1,310 soldiers, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The occupiers attacked Kostiantynivka with incendiary munitions and caused a rain of phosphorus.
Russia attacked Kharkiv and the surrounding region overnight; there are casualties.
