06/07/2026

Ukraine is implementing a large-scale plan that should complicate the provision of Russian troops and force the Russian Federation to lose the ability to maintain active hostilities. Kyiv has actually returned to the idea of ​​isolating Crimea, which was one of the key goals of the 2023 counteroffensive. However, this time our country is using drones, not ground troops, for this.

This is stated in the material of The Telegraph. The publication notes that recently Ukrainian drones have increasingly attacked important military and logistical facilities in Russia and the territories occupied by it.

The authors of the publication remind us that about six months ago, Russia’s position looked much stronger. The occupiers continued to advance on the front, while Ukraine faced an acute shortage of resources.

However, the situation is now gradually changing. Ukrainian forces have begun to systematically strike at facilities that are important for supplying the Russian army. One of the main directions of such attacks has become the R-280 highway. This road connects Rostov-on-Don with occupied Mariupol, Berdyansk, Melitopol and Crimea. It is through it that a significant part of the supplies for Russian troops in the south passes.

According to The Telegraph, in recent weeks, trucks, tankers, and other equipment used to supply the Russian army have been regularly destroyed along this route.

The publication notes that the current campaign is actually reviving one of the main ideas of the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023 – the isolation of Crimea from the main supply routes. But if three years ago it was planned to use tanks and infantry to achieve this goal, now strike drones play the main role.

One of the developers of the 2023 summer counteroffensive plan, General Mykhailo Zabrodsky, explained that after the failure of the offensive operation, the idea itself did not disappear.

“After the lack of success [of the counteroffensive]… the idea of ​​isolating Crimea has returned again. Today, the number and quality of strike drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allow for the implementation of such a plan,” the publication quotes the general as saying.

At the same time, Zabrodsky warned that Crimea’s isolation alone would not be the deciding factor in the war. He said that sooner or later Russia could find alternative supply routes or new ways to counter Ukrainian attacks.

The Telegraph draws attention to the fact that Ukraine’s current strategy has more realistic and restrained goals than the counteroffensive of 2023. If then the main task was to liberate the occupied territories, now the Ukrainian military is primarily seeking to stabilize the situation on the front and stop the further advance of the enemy. Only after achieving this goal, Ukrainian military analysts believe, will it be possible to talk about the return of the captured territories.

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodniuk explained the logic of this approach.

“The whole idea was that if they can’t maintain the front, then the ground war is dead – the ground war in that zone will be over,” he said.

The publication emphasizes that further success will depend on whether Ukraine can maintain its advantage in unmanned technologies and continue to strike at Russian logistics. Experts also draw attention to another important difference from the 2023 counteroffensive. At that time, the Ukrainian authorities and Western media talked a lot about future plans, which allowed the Russians to prepare in advance for possible actions by Ukraine.

Now the situation is different. Most operations take place in conditions of much greater secrecy. As the author of the material notes, now everyone sees only the results of the strikes and operations already carried out, but they do not know what steps Ukraine plans to take next.

“Don’t expect Ukrainians to announce their next step in advance,” the author of the article concluded.

As OBOZ.UA reported, the mobilization of 300,000 to 500,000 people in Russia could significantly change the course of the war and create serious challenges for Ukraine. At the same time, the possibility of the occupiers using tactical nuclear weapons at the front to break through Ukrainian defenses cannot be completely ruled out.