Ukraine. — Through the grainy gray and white haze of thermal images transmitted by a drone, Ukrainian pilots monitor the roads supplying Russian forces, searching for targets with a fleet of medium-range drones that is transforming the battlefield.
In an underground command post in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, hundreds of kilometers from the drone flying over Russian-controlled territory, the pilots wait for movement. When a vehicle appears, they signal the controller, causing the aircraft to dive toward its target to disrupt the supply of Russian provisions behind the front lines.
“Our mission is to cut off logistics,” said Kat, commander of Ukraine’s K-2 brigade, which fires medium-range drones. “We cut their supply lines and the infantry at the front runs out of food, ammunition, night vision, and batteries. Nothing. That is how we are wearing them down in every way.”
The soldiers spoke to the Associated Press on the condition that their call signs be used and not their real names, in accordance with military regulations.
According to Ukrainian commanders, by repeatedly attacking the roads that transport fuel, ammunition, and reinforcements, they have managed to make logistics slower, more expensive, and much less predictable, which has contributed to slowing down Russian advances and has allowed Ukraine to counterattack and strike the illegally annexed Crimea to isolate the peninsula from the mainland.
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Until recently, much of that territory was out of Ukraine’s reach. Front-line drones lacked the range, while long-range ones were reserved for strategic targets located hundreds of kilometers away. Between the two stretched a corridor of between 25 and 200 kilometers (15 and 125 miles) where Russian troops and supplies moved with relative freedom.Related stories
Medium-range fixed-wing drones equipped with Starlink satellite communications have begun to close that gap, turning Russia’s logistical rear into an active battlefield.
“They are ensuring that the Russians are constantly under pressure along their logistical supply lines and that they cannot supply certain parts of the front so that the situation is more controllable,” said Samuel Bendett, a researcher at the Center for Naval Analyses.
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Ukraine will have to maintain pressure while Russia develops countermeasures, Bendett stated. He anticipates that Moscow will adapt over time, but noted that its greater military might allows it to absorb more significant losses in the meantime.
“The question is whether Ukraine will be able to maintain this pressure over the coming weeks and months,” he stated.
From a nondescript office, Ukrainian drone operators strike Russian supplies.
The mid-range campaign machinery is hidden in plain sight. An ordinary office is a command post. A carpentry workshop is a drone assembly point. A quaint village house, a launch pad.
The nerve center of K-2, one of Ukraine’s elite drone units, is located in a monotonous workspace. The workstations are cluttered with coffee cups, energy drink cans, and electronic cigarettes.
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In May, the unit launched 800 medium-range drones, 650 of which reached their intended targets, all from this room.
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Dressed in civilian clothes, the pilots remain seated under intense fluorescent lights, their eyes fixed on computer screens, as if they were working late on spreadsheets.
But the grids on their monitors are target lists and satellite maps. While they plan each flight before takeoff, a separate unit launches the aircraft more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) away. Control then passes to the pilots in Kharkiv, who fly it for up to four hours more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) behind Russian lines.
Some who were expelled from their hometowns by the Russian invasion now roam familiar streets through the lens of a drone, passing by old schools and childhood haunts, searching for hidden Russian troops and ammunition depots in the places where they once played.
A whiteboard shows the progress of a competition between the unit’s 10 drone teams. The current record is 17 consecutive hits.
Missing a high-value target can be just as memorable as hitting one. After one such miss, Colonel Kyrylo Veres, the brigade commander, called the crew and scolded them: “Are you drunk?”
Some days, the screen shows little more than a truck transporting fuel and supplies or a lone soldier on a motorcycle. Other days, it lights up with more valuable targets: a loaded multiple rocket launcher or a group of Russian troops.
Among the best pilots is 20-year-old Pharaon, who stated that the work comes naturally to him, an extension of the video games he grew up with.
“When I was a kid, I used to go to computer clubs where we played Counter-Strike on a local network,” he said. “The competition here is practically the same. It’s about who can eliminate the most enemy troops or destroy the biggest target.”
Starlink made the innovative drone campaign possible.
Ukraine’s breakthrough came earlier this year, when SpaceX cut off unauthorized access by Russian forces to Starlink satellite services, disrupting Russia’s drone operations and communications.
That gave Ukraine an advantage, allowing its upgraded drones to evade detection, resist jamming, and strike with greater precision, while Russia scrambled to adapt.
“Blocking Starlink for Russian forces was one of the most significant events of the year on the battlefield,” said Rob Lee, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program.
The success of the Ukraine campaign in the medium term is a consequence of that change.
“What has changed is that now eight out of ten missions are successful,” said Pharaon. Just a few months ago, the success rate was the reverse, he added.
The K-2 uses the Dart, one of the most economical models in Ukraine’s growing fleet of medium-range drones. Made of polystyrene, wood, and 3D-printed parts, the Dart focuses primarily on Russian logistics convoys. Larger drones, such as the Hornet, carry heavier payloads to attack bridges and other infrastructure.
Before launch, teams inspect the batteries, cameras, flight controllers, and the most critical component: the Starlink satellite communications system, which keeps the drone connected throughout the mission.
From the assembly point, the drones are transported to hidden launch platforms near the front. There, a soldier with the call sign Buckwheat moves between the aircraft, ensuring that each Starlink terminal is connected before the drones are catapulted into the sky.
“Now there is a little more calm. It is noticeable that the enemy’s pressure has decreased,” he said.
Russia, caught by surprise, is trying to catch up.
Russian forces were caught by surprise when the campaign intensified three months ago. Now they have begun deploying mobile fire groups and other countermeasures to intercept the drones. However, the speed, scale, and surprise factor of the campaign have kept Ukraine one step ahead so far.
Russia’s Achilles’ heel is coordination between units, Bendett stated. Some sectors of the front may identify the threat, but unless that information is shared quickly with neighboring units, Russia will struggle to intercept the drones.
The Ukraine campaign focuses on the roads connecting the occupied cities of Mariupol, Berdiansk, Melitopol, and the Crimean Peninsula, the main supply routes for Russian forces fighting in southern and eastern Ukraine. Commanders state that constant attacks have forced Russia to use slower and less efficient resupply routes.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, drones have made some sections of the land corridor connecting Russia to Crimea too dangerous, slowing down the movement of fuel, ammunition, and reinforcements.
To defend against the drone campaign, Russia is “significantly increasing the number of its mobile anti-aircraft units and fixed machine gun positions, and is deploying more interceptor crews near major cities,” said Pharaon.
Drone pilots now plot routes around the known positions of mobile fire groups. Through the camera, they can sometimes detect the flashes of anti-aircraft fire as the drone sneaks by.
According to Lee, Russia is deploying electronic warfare systems against Starlink after having tested them since 2024. However, so far, their effectiveness has been limited.
“I think they have had some success, but we will have to wait and see what happens,” he said.
