As Ukrainian Drones Swarm, Russian General Orders Cargo Trucks Off The Main Highway In Ukraine
But taking back roads mean delivering fewer supplies
As more of Ukraine’s A.I.-assisted drone fill the sky over the Russian logistical zone in occupied Ukraine, a Russian commander has ordered military truckers to keep off the main highway connecting Russia proper to Russian field armies in southern Ukraine.
That’s according to Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. “From now on, the occupier’s logistics death marches to Crimea are authorized exclusively via back roads,” Brovdi reported. “Official admission of helplessness—noted.”
According to Brovdi, the order came from the commander of the Vostok Operational Grouping on June 7. Military cargo traffic has been banned from using the E-58 highway, Brovdi claimed. “Specifically the Mariupol–Berdiansk–Melitopol–Simferopol section running through temporarily occupied territory.”
The order came several months after Ukrainian drone units began systematically targeting Russian supply lines in the logistical zone stretching around 150 miles behind the disputed gray zone. By late May, Ukrainian drone units claimed they were hitting around 500 Russian trucks every day, a nearly tenfold increase in truck strikes.
The Ukrainians’ goal is to hit the Russians where they’re most vulnerable: their logistics. The counterlogistics campaign is actually the second phase of a wider campaign of deep strikes. First, Ukrainian drones targeted Russian air defenses, hitting more than 400 of them between June 2025 and March.
