Jason Jay Smart
Ukraine’s momentum is building across multiple fronts. In Donetsk, Ukrainian forces have retaken seven settlements along the Pokrovsk–Dobropillia axis, flipping artillery advantage and forcing Russia from key crossroads that once fed guns, fuel, and ammunition. Each kilometer gained opens new firing positions, cuts Russian resupply routes, and applies constant pressure on logistics that can no longer keep pace. This is not a sprint of headlines — it is a grind of logistics that Ukraine is beginning to win.
Airpower reinforces these gains. Strikes in the Luhansk direction turned Russian stockpiles into ash, forcing longer gaps between volleys and stretching rotations. In Hiryi, Ukraine’s Special Operations crippled the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade by destroying depots and slowing its tempo. Cheap interceptor FPV drones such as the Flamingo and VB-140 families add protection by eliminating expensive threats at a fraction of the cost. That math sustains advances and keeps newly liberated villages secure.
Deep inside Russia, the war’s economic engine is burning. Drone strikes on refineries in Saratov, Novokuybyshevsk, and Kirishi — more than 600 to 900 kilometers from Ukrainian territory — choke exports, lift insurance premiums, and slow loadings at Primorsk and Ust-Luga. Each fire means fewer rubles for shells, fewer trucks for fuel, and longer repair cycles. Short-range air defenses pulled from trenches to guard oil sites weaken Russia’s frontline even further.
At the same time, Moscow provokes abroad. MiG-31s violated Estonian airspace, forcing NATO jets to scramble in the Baltic. Inside Russia’s defense industry, the death of Umatex’s CEO threatens carbon fiber supply for drones and aircraft. The pattern is clear: Ukraine advances while Russia’s logistics, finances, and stability fracture.
“In Donetsk, Ukrainian forces have retaken seven settlements along the Pokrovsk–Dobropillia axis, flipping artillery advantage and forcing Russia from key crossroads that once fed guns, fuel, and ammunition.”
This is a drone war, but that doesn’t mean other weapons have lost their value. This goes especially for artillery. The new Ukrainian artillery, and Western ones anyway, have higher accuracy and longer range than their Soviet-era counterparts. With time, this advantage allows the decimation of the roach artillery, which used to reign supreme in the earlier stages of the war. Now, it’s on the defensive, what little is left over.