Ukrainian midrange drones reshape the battlefield by targeting Russian supply lines

KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Through the grainy gray-white haze of thermal images broadcast from a drone, Ukrainian pilots track routes supporting Russian forces and hunt targets with a fleet of medium-range drones that reshape the battlefield.

Hundreds of kilometers away from the drone, at a basement command post in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region Russian-held territoryThe pilots are waiting for movement. Once a vehicle appears, they will nudge the controller and dive the aircraft towards its target, disrupting Russian supplies deep in the front line.

“Our mission is to cut logistics,” said Kat, commander of Ukraine’s K-2 brigade, which fires medium-range unmanned aerial vehicles. “If you cut off the supply lines, the infantry on the front lines will have no food, no ammunition, no night vision, no batteries. Nothing. We’re wearing them out in every way this way.”

The soldiers spoke to The Associated Press on the condition that call signs be used in accordance with military regulations and that real names not be used.

By repeatedly striking highways carrying fuel, ammunition and reinforcements, Ukrainian commanders say they are making logistics slower, more costly and far less predictable, helping to halt Russian advances and enabling Ukrainian counterattacks and attacks. Illegally annexed Crimea Isolating the peninsula from the mainland.

Until recently, much of this region was beyond Ukraine’s reach. The front line drones had no range, long range drones was reserved for strategic targets hundreds of kilometers away. A corridor of 25 to 200 kilometers (15 to 125 mi) stretched between them, through which Russian troops and supplies moved relatively freely.

fixed-wing medium-range drones equipped with starlink satellite communications began to close this gap, turning Russia’s logistical rear into an active battlefield.

“In order to make the situation more controllable, they ensure that the Russians are under constant pressure along their logistics supply lines and cannot resupply certain parts of the front,” said Samuel Bendett, a researcher at the Center for Naval Analyzes.

Bendett said Ukraine will have to keep up the pressure while Russia develops countermeasures. He expects Moscow to eventually adjust but has said its larger army allows it to absorb heavier losses in the meantime.

“The question is whether Ukraine can maintain that pressure over the next few weeks and months,” he said.

Ukrainian drone operators target Russian supplies from a boring office

The mechanics of the mid-level operation are hiding in plain sight. An ordinary office is a command center. A carpenter’s workshop is a drone assembly point. An interesting village house, launch site.

The nerve center of the K-2, one of Ukraine’s largest aircraft elite drone unitssitting in a boring workspace. Workstations are filled with coffee mugs, energy drink cans and e-cigarettes.

In May, the unit launched 800 medium-range drones, 650 of which hit intended targets; All of this was from this room.

Pilots wearing civilian clothes sit under harsh fluorescent lights, their eyes fixed on computer screens, as if they’re staying up late working on spreadsheets.

However, the grids on their monitors consist of target lists and satellite maps. While we plan each flight before takeoff, a separate unit launches the aircraft more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) away. Control then passes to pilots in Kharkiv, who fly it for up to four hours more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) behind Russian lines.

Some of those driven from their hometowns by Russia’s occupation are now revisiting familiar streets through the lens of a drone, passing old schools and childhood haunts, searching for places where they once played for secret Russian troops and ammunition depots.

A whiteboard tracks an ongoing competition between the unit’s 10 drone teams. The current record stands at 17 consecutive hits.

Missing a high-value goal can be just as memorable as reaching it. After one such miss, the brigade commander, Colonel Kyrylo Veres, called the crew and scolded: “Are you drunk?”

Some days the screen shows little more than a truck carrying fuel and supplies or a lone soldier on a motorcycle. Other days, it shines with more valuable targets: multiple loaded rocket launchers or a group of Russian soldiers.

Pharaon, 20, among the top pilots, said the job came naturally, an extension of the video games he grew up playing.

“As a kid, I used to go to computer clubs where we played Counter-Strike over the local network,” he said. “The competition here is pretty much the same. It’s about who can kill the most enemy soldiers or eliminate the biggest target.”

Starlink activates groundbreaking drone campaign

Ukraine’s breakthrough was made by SpaceX earlier this year. Cut off unauthorized access by Russian forces to Russia’s Starlink satellite services, which disrupted drone operations and communications.

This gave Ukraine an advantage; It allowed upgraded drones to evade detection, resist jamming, and strike more accurately as Russia struggled to adapt.

“The interception of Starlink for Russian forces was one of the most significant battlefield developments of the year,” said Rob Lee, senior fellow in the Eurasia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The success of Ukraine’s midrange campaign is a result of this shift.

“What has changed is that now eight out of 10 sorties are successful,” Pharaon said. Just a few months ago, he said, the success rate was just the opposite.

The K-2 flies the Dart, one of the cheaper models in Ukraine’s expanding fleet of medium-range drones. Made from polystyrene, wood and 3D printed parts, Dart primarily targets Russian logistics convoys. Larger drones like Hornet carry heavier payloads attack bridges and other infrastructure.

Before launch, the crew collected batteries, cameras, flight controllers, and the most critical component. starlink satellite Communication system that keeps the drone connected throughout the mission.

Drones are moved from the assembly point to secret launch sites near the front line. There, a soldier bearing the call sign Buckwheat moves between planes, ensuring that each Starlink terminal is connected before the drones are launched into the sky.

“It has become a little quieter now. We can say that the enemy’s pressure has decreased,” he said.

Russia was caught unprepared

When the operation intensified three months ago, Russian forces were caught unprepared. They have now begun deploying mobile fire groups and other countermeasures to thwart drones. But the pace, scale and element of surprise of the campaign have so far kept Ukraine one step ahead.

Russia’s Achilles heel is coordination between units, Bendett said. Some segments of the front may be able to identify the threat, but unless this information is quickly shared with neighboring units, Russia will have difficulty blocking the drones.

Ukraine’s campaign focuses on highways connecting occupied Mariupol, Berdyansk, Melitopol Crimean PeninsulaThey are major arteries to Russian forces fighting in the south and east of Ukraine. Constant attacks are forcing Russia into slower and less efficient supply routes, commanders say.

Ukrainian military intelligence said drones were slowing the movement of fuel, ammunition and reinforcements, making parts of the land corridor connecting Russia with Crimea very dangerous.

To defend against drone attacks, Russia has “significantly increased the number of mobile anti-aircraft units and fixed machine gun positions and deployed more interceptors near major cities,” Pharaon said.

Drone pilots now plot routes around known mobile fire group positions. Through the camera, they can sometimes notice the glare of anti-aircraft fire as the drone passes by.

Lee said Russia has deployed electronic warfare systems against Starlink after testing it since 2024. But so far their effectiveness has been limited.

“I think they’ve had some success, but we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.