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Ukraine’s Drone War Expands as Kyiv Targets Russia’s Logistics Network - The Ukraine War continues providing insight into how the next great power war will unfold. After the two warring sides pioneered various new tank tactics and drone warfare, the Ukrainians are now emphasizing their strategic resilience by highlighting the importance of targeting the comprehensive infrastructure and industrial bases of a rival warring state to potentially alter battlefield dynamics.
Thus far, there has been no downturn in the operational tempo of Russian forces currently moving hard against the remaining Ukrainian “Fortress Cities” comprising the contested frontline in Eastern Ukraine since Russian elements claimed to have seized Konstantinovka.
But, Kyiv is clearly committed to striking as hard and long–and as deep–as possible into Russia to force a fundamental change in Moscow’s battlefield disposition.
The latest example of Kyiv’s commitment to infrastructure and industrial base warfare (perhaps a better description would be “supply chain warfare”?) can be found in Ukraine’s sustained drone attacks on critical Russian warehouses belonging to Russia’s version of Amazon, Wildberries. This is the third time in a week that Ukrainian drones have targeted the company’s logistics network, reflecting the growing willingness by the Zelenskyy government to attack Russian commercial infrastructure it believes contributes to the Russian war effort.
Ukraine Hits Russia’s Amazon
According to Tatyana Kim, the chief executive officer of Wildberries, large warehouses belonging to Wildberries in southern Russian cities, like Krasnodar, were hit by Ukrainian drones in the most recent strike.
Russian authorities claim that ten people were injured in those Ukrainian drone attacks.
Wildberries began its existence as an online clothing retailer selling apparel from European catalogs; the company has evolved into a giant e-commerce marketplace, like Amazon.
Kyiv insists that it targeted Wildberries because the Russian military has integrated key elements of its infrastructure into the Russian Armed Forces’ supply chain. President Zelenskyy argues that the Wildberries warehouses being targeted were used to store, or even transport, equipment destined for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
The attacks indicate how blurred the line between civilian and military has become over the years, and the way in which the conflict is quickly becoming a protracted industrial-scale ordeal.
Kyiv Expands Its Long-Range Strikes
Ukraine’s newest drones can now reliably hit targets inside Russia as far away as 1,000 kilometers, demonstrating their growing technological capabilities and strategic adaptability.
Because of the new ranges on Ukraine’s drones, Kyiv’s forces can strike oil depots, fuel storage facilities, ammunition depots, aircraft production plants, and other key facilities inside Russia that support the country’s ongoing war effort against Ukraine. Ukrainian forces also attacked a Russian oil depot and an oil tanker on the same day as its drone attacks on the Wildberries warehouses.
Russian Air Defenses Put Under Strain?
Kyiv’s strategy to pressure Russia’s air defenses aims to divert Moscow’s focus from defending its eastern Fortress Cities to counter Ukrainian drone attacks. Still, the effectiveness of this approach depends on Russian resilience and the ability of Ukrainian forces to sustain these strikes before Russian forces can reinforce or adapt their defenses.
Whether that works in time before the Russians can capture the remaining Ukrainian Fortress Cities remains to be seen. But it is a viable strategy (really the only one Kyiv has left if it seeks to sustain its warfighting).
Fighting Continues Despite Calls for Negotiations
Despite Ukraine’s efforts to increase pressure through long-range strikes, negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow remain frozen.
For his part, Zelenskyy has long argued that bringing the war to Russia’s civilian population will compel Moscow toward diplomacy. The Kremlin, however, maintains its existing negotiating positions, particularly regarding control over occupied portions of Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Russia isn’t sitting on its hands, though. It is continuing with its systematic, long-range campaign against Ukrainian cities, underscoring the ongoing threat and seriousness of the conflict.
For example, Russia launched 216 drones and four missiles on the night of July 22. One person was apparently killed in Odesa, while at least five people (including three children) were injured in Kyiv. Residential buildings, storage facilities, and offices were targeted.
Both sides seem exhausted, working tirelessly to expand the war in ways they believe the other cannot defend against, reflecting shared endurance and the war’s protracted nature.
As these campaigns expand, economic resilience and domestic endurance are becoming as important to the outcome of the conflict as battlefield operations themselves. It is not clear which side will enjoy positive results from these moves. But it does highlight how a major war will unfold in the future.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is Senior National Security Editor. He also manages The Weichert Brief on Substack. Weichert also hosts “National Security Talk” on Rumble. He is the author of four bestselling national security books, the most recent of which is A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine (Encounter Books). Follow him via Twitter/X @WeTheBrandon.
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