Russia thought its supply roads 100 miles from the front were safe. Ukrainian operators can 'free hunt' with new drones.

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Sinéad Baker

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Ukraine's new drones are letting its soldiers "free hunt" in areas far behind the front lines that Russia long considered safe.

The mid-range strike drones are making Russian logistics deep behind the front increasingly vulnerable, giving Ukrainian operators access to target-rich areas with limited defenses. One soldier described attacking Russian targets in those areas as "quite easy."

Ukrainian operators can put a Starlink terminal on a drone to give it an internet connection, fly the aircraft out "onto the critical highways," and then it's just a "free hunt" after that, Dmytro "Liber" Zhluktenko, a former drone operator who now serves as a lessons-learned analyst with Ukraine's 413th Unmanned Systems Regiment "RAID," told Business Insider.

Operators are sowing "chaos" 100 kilometers into the rear, he said, adding that "those highways are so loaded with military logistics that it would be very hard not to find targets."

He said it's "not a 100% kill zone, but you are definitely in danger" if you are in that region.

Ukraine's drones have been key to its survival against Russia. Its short-range first-person-view drones hit Russian troops, supplies, and weaponry near the front lines, while long-range drones strike oil facilities, airfields, and military targets deep inside Russia.

New mid-range strike drones are filling the gap between those two highly effective campaigns, targeting areas roughly 20 to 300 kilometers from the front.

There, Ukraine can attack Russian warehouses, vehicles, transportation hubs, and command posts, disrupting the flow of supplies to front-line forces. Ukraine says its use of the drones is expanding rapidly and remains a major priority.

Russia lacks strong defenses in this middle zone, Zhluktenko said, at least in part because it can't afford to relocate many from elsewhere, where Ukraine is already keeping them under pressure.

Western military analysts have said that Ukraine's varied drone attack campaigns have already stretched Russia's air defenses thin, forcing it to make decisions about which areas to protect. Opening new areas to attack only worsens that problem.

Zhluktenko said that even if Russia deployed large numbers of interceptor drones, which are designed to destroy other drones, defending such a vast area would require "a lot of resources."

"So it's a win-win anyway," he said. "So we are just widening the danger zone for them."

Ukrainian officials say the new mid-range strike drones are opening previously safe areas of Russia's rear to attack, creating new opportunities for Ukraine while putting fresh pressure on the Russian army.

Taras Berezovets, head of the military cooperation department of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, a branch of the armed forces, said in May that the mid-strikes mean that for Russia, "the area which they considered to be safe now is a new kill zone."

This causes huge problems for Russia both psychologically and practically, he said.

For Russia, it now "takes much more time to deliver armaments to the front lines," Berezovets said. He said using this mid-range technology in large quantities "will change the front lines."

Ukraine's then-defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said in May that "the enemy's rear is no longer a safe haven. We are seizing the initiative — using technology and the cold math of war to paralyze their operations." He said that Ukraine is "launching a 'logistics lockdown' for the Russian army."

And Ukraine's defense ministry said at that time that "destruction of enemy logistics, depots, and other targets has increased fourfold" over recent months.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that Ukraine has "achieved important results through its mid-range and deep strike capabilities," including "serious disruptions" to Russian logistics.

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Sinéad Baker

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Sinéad Baker is a Military and Defense Correspondent based in Business Insider's London bureau, writing about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and NATO actions.Sinéad most often covers soldiers' experiences, military strategy, battlefield developments, the defense industry's response, and geopolitical decisions that surround the war. She has reported from NATO’s frontlines and around Europe,  has interviewed multiple prime ministers and defense ministers, has appeared on BBC News and The Guardian's politics podcast, and has been cited by Congressional hearings.Sinéad has also extensively covered US politics and previously led Business Insider's breaking news coverage from London.Sinéad previously completed a master's degree in investigative journalism at City, University of London, and has written for The Guardian, The Observer, and TheJournal.ie. Sinéad is the former editor of the multi-award-winning The University Times in Dublin.Expertise

• Experiences of soldiers in Ukraine, including battlefield developments and tactics
• Western military responses to the war, and lessons they should learn
• New weaponry built for and in response to the war 

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