Ukrainian drones turn key highway to occupied Crimea into "highway of death", The Guardian says
A key logistics line for the Russian army — the R-280 highway from Rostov-on-Don to occupied Crimea — has become a "highway of death" due to the dominance of Ukrainian drones.
This was reported by The Guardian, Censor.NET reports.
Details
"Russian forces call it the ‘Novorossiya’ route, the most important supply artery. ... However, in recent months, Ukrainian forces have given the R-280 highway a new name — the ‘highway of death’ — because Ukrainian drones, which dominate the airspace above the road, are tracking down convoys of Russian military vehicles," the article says.
The authors recalled that the road has been almost completely closed to civilian traffic since late May.
"(The road - ed.) is particularly important for Moscow because it is the main land corridor for supplying Russian troops in the south," the outlet writes.
Journalists also reported that traffic across the Chonhar Bridge — a key section of the road connecting the occupied part of the Kherson region with Crimea — was suspended this week after a series of Ukrainian strikes.
The article notes that the middle-strike campaign is aimed at Russian targets located 20 to 200 kilometres behind the front line.
"Ukrainian drone units do not disclose precise details of the new tactics, but the central element appears to be the use of swarms of drones to attack logistics routes, including roads, railways, and bridges, ‘in numbers that seem to have caught Russian forces by surprise,’" The Guardian added.
The attacks use U.S.-made Hornet drones equipped with artificial intelligence that helps detect truck movement. The UAVs can fly about 150 km and be used for almost continuous patrols and strikes on Russian convoys.
Ukraine is also using a new lightweight Morrigan drone.
