{"id":1491,"date":"2026-07-06T07:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2026-07-06T07:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:08:10","slug":"ukrainian-midrange-drones-reshape-the-battlefield-by-targeting-russian-supply-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1491","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian midrange drones reshape the battlefield by targeting Russian supply lines"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Through the grainy gray-and-white haze of thermal images streamed from a drone, Ukrainian pilots watch the roads that keep Russian forces supplied, hunting for targets with a fleet of midrange drones that is reshaping the battlefield.<\/p>\n

Read more Australia and Fiji seal a new mutual defense pact in a push to counter China in the Pacific<\/a><\/p>\n

In a basement command post in Ukraine\u2019s Kharkiv region, hundreds of kilometers from the drone over Russian-held territory<\/span>, pilots wait for movement. When a vehicle appears, they will nudge the controller, sending the aircraft diving toward its target to disrupt Russian supplies deep behind the front.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to cut logistics,\u201d said Kat, commander of Ukraine\u2019s K-2 brigade, which fires midrange drones. \u201cCut off their supply lines, and the infantry on the front line have no food, no ammunition, no night vision, no batteries. Nothing. That\u2019s how we\u2019re wearing them down in every sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Soldiers spoke to The Associated Press on condition their call signs and not real names be used, in line with military regulations. <\/p>\n

By repeatedly striking the highways that carry fuel, ammunition and reinforcements, Ukrainian commanders say they have made logistics slower, costlier and far less predictable, helping stall Russian advances and enabling Ukrainian counterattacks and strikes into illegally annexed Crimea<\/span> to isolate the peninsula from the mainland.<\/p>\n

Until recently, much of that territory lay beyond Ukraine\u2019s reach. Front-line drones lacked the range, while long-range drones<\/span> were reserved for strategic targets hundreds of kilometers away. Between them stretched a 25- to 200-kilometer (15- to 125-mile) corridor where Russian troops and supplies moved with relative freedom.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fixed-wing midrange drones equipped with Starlink satellite<\/span> communications have begun closing that gap, turning Russia\u2019s logistical rear into an active battlefield. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re ensuring that the Russians are constantly pressured along their supply logistics lines and that they are unable to supply certain parts of the front so that the situation may be more controllable,\u201d said Samuel Bendett, a researcher at the Center for Naval Analyses.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Ukraine will have to sustain the pressure while Russia develops countermeasures, Bendett said. He expects Moscow to adapt eventually but said its larger military allows it to absorb heavier losses in the meantime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is whether Ukraine can keep this pressure up over the next few weeks and months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n
\nSign up for Morning Wire:<\/strong>
\n Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day.\n <\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n