The occupiers have restricted truck traffic along the land corridor to Crimea due to drone attacks

Amid regular strikes by Ukrainian drones on Russian logistics hubs and vehicles, the Moscow-appointed occupation administration of the occupied part of the Kherson region announced the imposition of strict restrictions on vehicle traffic. 

This was reported in a Telegram post by Vladimir Saldo, the Gauleiter of Kherson Oblast.

The blockade affects a strategically important section of the so-called federal highway R-280 “Novorossiya” (Rostov-on-Don – Mariupol – Melitopol – Simferopol), which serves as the main “land corridor” from Russian territory to the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Saldo signed an order imposing a complete temporary ban on civilian freight vehicles traveling toward the “Dzhankoy” international road checkpoint, effective May 21, 2026. The restriction will apply to the section of the highway from kilometers 463 to 494 and will remain in effect until a separate special order is issued, while all civilian truck traffic is now being rerouted via Perekop and Armiansk.

According to the text of the published document, only a narrow list of special-purpose vehicles is exempt from the ban:

• Cargo exclusively for military and special purposes;

• Medicines, pharmaceutical products, and medical equipment;

• Specialized equipment used to restore damaged critical infrastructure;

• Fuel, gasoline tankers, and tanker trucks;

• Perishable food products and certain socially significant essential goods.

Representatives of Ukrainian OSINT communities and analysts note that the real reason for this emergency closure is an attempt by the Russian military command to minimize civilian traffic on the approaches to Crimea. Creating a zone free of civilian trucks will allow convoys carrying fuel and heavy military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces to move through this section at maximum speed, which should significantly reduce the risk of them being precisely targeted by FPV drones and strike UAVs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The introduction of restrictions was preceded by an incident in which, as a result of another airstrike directly on the “Novorossiya” highway, two large tanker trucks carrying liquefied gas were destroyed and burned.