How Ukraine is cutting off Russia’s land corridor to Crimea

Ukrainian forces are using mid-strike drones to systematically bleed dry Russian logistics routes in the occupied parts of southern Ukraine, gradually shutting down the enemy’s transport corridors.

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Equipment in Belarus guiding Russian strikes stopped working; Russia looks to India and Kazakhstan for gasoline amid fuel shortage; EU partners to give Ukraine $425 mil+ for energy sector; Russian satellites come suspiciously close to Finnish satellite.

THE BIG STORY: Ukrainian deftech attacking Russian logistics

The increase in mid-strike drone production capacity did not happen by chance, said Serhii Okhotnik, founder of the Hunter project, which manufactures drones and trains drone operators.

Many manufacturers were made aware of the military’s growing interest in capability. They were notified in advance and began preparing their development efforts, Okhotnik told The Arsenal. He also noted that demand for their products has increased tenfold, leading to a significant expansion of production.

According to Yelyzaveta Demchenko, an OSINT and GEOINT professional and military intelligence analyst, Ukraine uses UAVs such as RAM-2X, Bulava, Darts, and, less frequently, long-range UAVs FP1 and FP2 produced by Fire Point.

However, the majority of drones deployed across nearly all units are U.S.-made Hornet systems by Perennial Autonomy, Demchenko told The Arsenal.

According to her, for navigation, the Hornets rely on terrain mapping, which allows them to continue flying even if the operator’s signal is lost. One of the key functions is automatic target detection and acquisition: At a range of around 300–400 meters, the drone uses AI to identify the designated target and switch to autonomous guidance, continuing toward it even in the presence of EW interference.

“When we started this over three years ago, we did this with the intent of working closely with the Ukrainian military and frontline units to identify the big capability gaps that we could potentially fill,” said an official with Perennial Autonomy. “The one we really honed in on was this mid-range strike gap.”

The official pointed at HIMARS and Lancets, and how Ukraine needed a mid-range strike weapon for campaigns exactly like the one now underway in southern Ukraine.

Perennial Autonomy started sending Lancets to Ukraine in early 2025, embedding them in SOF units, and then surging more to frontline units in late 2025.

“In typical Ukraine fashion, in their innovative ways, and Azov was the first to do this, they slapped Starlink on these things and are achieving ranges that we didn’t think was possible, and it’s really impressive,” the official said. “They’re getting out 200km with these things... it really is filling that gap.”

Hornet drone. Proto by Telegram channel.

There is also a so-called target library, Demchenko told The Arsenal. Thanks to machine vision, all recordings, strike data, and drone video footage is processed by artificial intelligence, enabling it to distinguish military targets and engage them autonomously. For example, even if a convoy of civilian vehicles is moving along a road alongside a military truck, the system can identify and isolate the military target among the civilian ones.

Behemoth, mid-strike drones, produced in cooperation between Ukrainian companies Culver Aerospace and GLEFA, have also been used to target logistics. The 1st and 475 Separate Assault Regiments confirmed that Behemoth drones were used in strikes on the Chongar Bridge.

How Ukraine is choking off Russian logistics

Viktoriia Kulchytska, Commercial Director of Ukrainian UAV developer Trypillian, highlights three key characteristics of strikes on enemy logistics

• The first is regularity, which plays a crucial role in such operations.

• The second is scale and repetition: “A single strike can destroy a vehicle, but a series of strikes along a specific route leads to changes in the enemy’s behavior,” she told The Arsenal.

• The third is speed - the ability to quickly detect a target, identify it, relay the information, and then strike it.

Effective fire control over road networks reduces overall freight flow and creates shortages of critical materials, primarily fuel, said an officer of the UAV Systems Command of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine Azov. He requested anonymity for security reasons.

“Due to fuel shortages, generators in units stop working, which makes it impossible to regularly charge batteries for FPV drones and communication equipment. At the same time, the lack of fuel transport disrupts the regular delivery of ammunition to artillery positions, which reduces the density and intensity of shelling,” he told The Arsenal.

The lack of fuel for trucks and light armored vehicles also blocks the transport of infantry, disrupting rotation schedules, complicating the redeployment of reserves between sectors, and reducing the intensity of offensive operations. Russian Telegram channels have already reported that mobile fire groups responsible for countering drones are being ‘knocked out’ due to fuel shortages.

Thus, keeping rear communications under constant pressure systematically reduces the combat effectiveness of enemy units on the frontline.

The emergence of new strike capabilities has reshaped Ukrainian operations against Russian logistics, Yaroslav Honchar, a representative of NGO Aerorozvidka, told The Arsenal. As soon as longer range systems became available, military planners quickly integrated them into operational use.

Building up a high quantity of these systems was also crucial, as large-scale strikes on logistical targets require a coordinated series of attacks involving a significant number of drones.

How Russia is adapting to the threat

In response to these attacks, Russian forces are attempting new ways to protect their logistics routes. “They are bringing in additional air defense systems, breaking convoys into individual vehicles, reorganizing routes, and trying to move as quickly as possible through exposed sections of roads,” the Azov representative noted.

Successful strikes on Russian logistics routes in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine have led the Russian command to ban the use of the main roads R-280 ‘Novorossiya’ and A-291 ‘Tavrida,’ redirecting military logistics to alternative routes.

Russian forces have also deployed vehicle mock-ups with phony ‘personnel’ inside following intensified strikes on logistics.

According to Honchar, the use of decoys is not a new phenomenon, and all the Ukrainian side has to do is conduct proper reconnaissance to avoid being duped. He also noted that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, local residents in occupied territories actively reported on troop movements and logistics routes, but over time, due to filtration measures, repression, and fear of persecution, the number of such information sources has decreased.

Why strikes on Russian logistics are crucial

Logistics has always been one of the most important factors in warfare, and hence, a top target for any military hoping to cut off enemy supply routes to deprive them of critical materials.

Ukrainian forces have leaned into this heavily in recent weeks, significantly intensifying strikes on key routes in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine using middle strike drones. This was the ‘logistical lockdown’ that Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov teased back in May.

“The Donetsk–Mariupol–Taganrog and Mariupol–Volnovakha routes are used to directly transport the vast majority of military supplies and equipment from the territory of Russia into our operational zone, as well as, when necessary, to redeploy forces between different sectors of the front,” according to the Azov officer.

The Donetsk–Mariupol–Taganrog and Mariupol–Volnovakha routes on Google Maps.

The land corridor through the occupied territories in southern Ukraine is a key supply artery for Russia to Crimea, Honchar told The Arsenal. After strikes on the Kerch Bridge in 2022, Russia prohibited the rail transport of fuel across the bridge. Meanwhile, the three rail ferries operating in the Kerch Strait were either destroyed or damaged by Ukrainian drones. That’s why the land route along the northern coast of the Sea of Azov became the main channel for transporting equipment, ammunition, and supplies to Crimea and Russian forces in the southern operational direction.

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By Mariana Stadnyk

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

EQUIPMENT IN BELARUS GUIDING RUSSIAN STRIKES STOPPED WORKING: Military technology in Belarus which was used by Russia to coordinate strikes on Ukraine has stopped working, President Zelenskyy announced at a press conference.

However, it remains unclear why the technology has stopped working and whether it was dismantled. Earlier, Zelenskyy demanded that Belarus take down the technology within a week or Ukraine would take the matter into its own hands.

Earlier this year, Russia ramped up pressure on Belarus, reportedly threatening to end financial support for the country unless its leaders played a more active role in the war. Moscow has also reportedly considered using Belarusian territory for operations against NATO countries.

RUSSIA LOOKS TO INDIA AND KAZAKHSTAN FOR GASOLINE AMID FUEL SHORTAGE: Russia is drafting amendments to the nation’s tax code, which would offer subsidies for gasoline imports from India, according to Kyiv Post. In addition to this, Russia is looking to Kazakhstan for additional support and negotiating the import of about 50,000 metric tons of gasoline, Reuters reported.

This comes as Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries have decreased gasoline production by 25%. While Russia has been importing gasoline from Belarus, the imports are far less than what is needed to meet demand. The fuel shortage is being felt all across Russia as at least 15 regions impose restrictions on the sale of gasoline.

EU PARTNERS TO GIVE UKRAINE $425 MIL+ FOR ENERGY SECTOR: At the “Energy Ramstein” meeting in Gdansk, Poland, it was announced that the U.S., Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Iceland and Lithuania will collectively provide $425 million for the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy sector, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s energy sector is better prepared for Russian attacks than it was last summer, but emergency power outages may still be implemented in July and August in the event of prolonged heat waves or another wave of Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure.

RUSSIAN SATELLITES COME SUSPICIOUSLY CLOSE TO FINNISH SATELLITE: Four Russian military satellites came within 13 kilometres of a Finnish radar satellite, which produces imagery likely used by Ukrainian forces. The satellites were operating in low earth orbit, where satellites frequently travel at 28,000 kilometers per hour and where this kind of approach is considered hostile.

Experts believe that Russia may have been trying to jam radio communications, disrupt sensors with lasers or disrupt data transmissions.

DOG OF WAR:

Baguette the dog is the most fashionable one in Oleksandra’s neighborhood.

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Zoriana and Tim