Ukraine using 'secret' strike drones to devastate Russian logistics on crucial highway, Nemesis Brigade says

Russia has blocked the key "Novorossiya" logistics route in occupied southern Ukraine due to strike drone attacks, the 412th Nemesis Brigade said on May 26 on Telegram.

Highway R-280, which Russian occupation authorities have also named the "Novorossiya" route, runs through the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and Simferopol in occupied Crimea.

The route serves as a key logistics corridor, linking mainland southern Ukraine with the occupied peninsula and is used for transporting military equipment and other supplies supporting Russian forces.

The 412th Brigade Nemesis said it had tested a new "secret" attack drone, which it claimed proved effective deep behind Russian lines, destroying "dozens" of trucks and fuel tankers.

Following Ukrainian strikes, Russia has limited the movement of heavy equipment along the highway, with Ukrainian forces striking vehicles trying to circumvent it using dirt roads and field paths, the brigade added.

"We are using secret strike 'wings' that have not previously been seen in the public domain," the statement read.

"Thanks to close collaboration between the 412th Nemesis Brigade and the manufacturer, we have succeeded in creating a system that is perfectly tailored to these specific tasks."

The strikes form part of Ukraine's increasingly devastating middle strike campaign, hitting targets at the operational level, between 20 and 200 kilometers from the frontline.

Air defense systems, command posts, fuel and ammunition depots, and logistics vehicles are all targets of this campaign.

The reach of Ukraine’s middle-strike campaign — and the inability of Russia to seemingly do anything about it — was dramatically illustrated by footage published by the National Guard’s Azov Corps on May 8, showing their Hornet drones flying unmolested above the Russian occupied Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Mariupol.