Ukraine has launched an operation to force Russia to make peace by isolating Crimea – The Telegraph
Ukraine is implementing a large-scale military strategy to force Russia to make peace, returning to the key concept of the 2023 counteroffensive—the complete logistical isolation of the temporarily occupied Crimea and the severing of the “land corridor.”
Whereas previously this plan was attempted using heavy armored vehicles and infantry, the Defense Forces are now employing methods of attrition from a distance and achieving notable success through the massive use of drones.
The main target of regular strikes by Ukrainian drone systems has become the strategic R-280 highway, which connects the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don with the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol, Berdyansk, Melitopol, and leads directly to the peninsula. Over the past few weeks, Russian military trucks, fuel tankers, and other supply lines have been systematically destroyed along this logistics route, significantly slowing the pace of the Russian Federation’s advance, which just six months ago held a significant advantage in resources. Recently, as part of this same operation, the Ukrainian Armed Forces damaged a bridge near the village of Chongar.
Ukrainian General Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, who participated in developing the plan for the 2023 summer campaign, confirmed that despite the lack of expected success in the offensive at that time, the idea of isolating the peninsula has not gone away. According to him, the current quantity and technological quality of Ukrainian strike drones make it possible to effectively implement this plan in a new format that is safer for personnel. However, the General Staff warns that a blockade of Crimea alone will not be the decisive factor, as the occupying forces will seek new ways to counter it.
Experts note that the current drone campaign has more modest and realistic goals: while three years ago the objective was a rapid de-occupation breakthrough, the priority now is to stabilize the front line and completely halt the enemy’s advance. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk explained that if logistics cannot be sustained, the occupiers’ conventional ground war in this area will come to an end. A key difference from the events of 2023 is strict operational secrecy—Ukraine no longer announces its moves, forcing the enemy to react to actual strikes.
This is reported by the British publication The Telegraph.
Drone operators from the 3rd Separate Regiment of Special Operations Forces named after Prince Sviatoslav the Brave have established air control over part of the strategic Melitopol — Chongar, which Russian troops actively use to supply their forces in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
In May 2026, the Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a series of strikes against key elements of Russian military infrastructure as part of the “middle strike” campaign. Logistical routes in the Luhansk region and toward Crimea, as well as the occupiers’ warehouses, headquarters, and air defense systems, came under fire, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
