Ukraine's drones take aerial control over part of land route to Russian-occupied Crimea, military says
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Drone operators from Ukraine's 3rd Special Operations Forces Regiment have taken aerial control of part of Russia's land supply route to occupied Crimea, the military reported on June 6.
According to the statement, Ukrainian drones are capable of targeting Russian equipment and logistics along the Melitopol — Chonhar route in Ukraine's south, which leads to Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014.
The regiment said this has complicated Russian military supply and fuel logistics to Crimea. In recent weeks, the peninsula has continued to experience fuel shortages stemming from a combination of Ukrainian strikes on supply routes as well as on oil infrastructure.
"This is just the beginning. More to come," the Ukrainian military said, releasing a video purportedly showing drone strikes.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the reports.
Ukrainian forces have significantly expanded their medium-range strike capabilities, regularly hitting Russian military targets 20 to 300 kilometers (10 to 180 miles) behind the front line, both inside Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territories.
The attacks, some of which target Russian fuel shipments, have been concentrated in occupied Ukrainian regions northeast of Crimea that form a so-called "land bridge" with Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.
In April, Ukrainian forces also damaged railway infrastructure leading to Crimea.
In mid-April, Azov Corps published footage showing its drones striking Russian targets and flying over occupied Donetsk. It later published video of drones over occupied Mariupol.
A Kyiv Independent analysis of footage released by Azov alone shows over fifty strikes on Russian targets on key roads in occupied Ukraine, such as the so-called "Novorossiya" R-280 military logistics route in occupied southern Ukraine which links Rostov-on-Don with occupied Crimea and runs through several occupied Ukrainian cities.
