Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces struck two Russian locomotives in occupied Crimea on Wednesday, crippling a key logistics link for Moscow’s war effort in the peninsula, military sources said. Pilots of the Raid 413th Regiment of the USF conducted the precision strike, targeting rolling stock that Russian occupiers had been using to move troops and materiel through the temporarily occupied territory. The operation follows a broader Ukrainian drone campaign aimed at disrupting Russian supply lines across southern Ukraine, including Crimea, where fuel shortages are now reported to be worsening.
The attack on the locomotives comes as Kyiv intensifies its interdiction of Russian logistics. On the same day, Ukrainian forces also struck Russian drone crews and air defense units at Donetsk Airport, which Moscow has converted into a military hub, according to the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces. The operation destroyed warehouses and neutralized personnel supporting drone operations in the area.
Civilian infrastructure remains under sustained Russian assault. In Zaporizhzhia, Russian drones hit a multi-storey residential building and a trolleybus, injuring civilians and damaging public transport. In Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian forces conducted more than 50 attacks across four districts, killing one person and wounding five. A separate strike on Nova Post’s innovative terminal in Dnipro was reported for the second time this week.
The humanitarian toll continues to mount. Russia’s latest barrage killed twelve people across Ukraine, coinciding with national commemorations for the 707 children confirmed killed since 2022. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv on Wednesday, touring sites in the Shevchenkivskyi district struck by Russian missiles on 24 May, when three civilians were killed.
Ukraine’s drone dominance is expanding. Soldiers from the 28th Mechanized Brigade said they have established drone control over the occupied city of Horlivka in Donetsk region, a claim that underscores Kyiv’s growing ability to contest Russian airspace in contested territories. Meanwhile, a fuel crisis in Crimea is deepening as Ukraine’s “middle strike” drone campaign targets fuel tankers and storage facilities, according to RFE/RL.
Since dawn, Russian occupation forces have engaged Ukrainian positions 95 times, with the Pokrovsk and Huliaipole sectors remaining the most active. The intensity of combat and the breadth of Ukrainian strikes suggest both sides are escalating their use of unmanned systems to shape the battlefield.