Russia shielded its logistics routes against drones. Ukraine has responded by attacking something much more vulnerable: asphalt

In the spring of 1945, the United States launched a campaign called Operation Starvation. Instead of concentrating on destroying Japanese ships one by one, he began laying mines in the straits and sea routes through which they had to pass. The result was so effective that dozens of convoy routes had to be abandoned and Japanese maritime traffic plummeted, making logistics as valuable a target as the vehicles themselves.

From trucks to roads. The logistics war between Russia and Ukraine is entering a new phase. For months, Ukraine concentrated its efforts on destroying trucks, convoys, fuel depots and other targets that kept the Russian army supplied. Moscow responded by strengthening the protection of its supply routes, deploying anti-aircraft defenses, adapting its movements and building corridors that were increasingly protected against drones.

Now kyiv seems to have identified a vulnerability that is more difficult to solve: the very infrastructure on which these supplies circulate. Instead of only pursuing specific vehicles, Ukrainian drones are beginning to lay mines on the roads that connect Crimea with the occupied territories, transforming essential routes for Russian logistics into spaces where any movement can become a risk.

The strategy of the logistical blockade. Ukrainian authorities describe this campaign as an attempt to impose a “logistical blockade” on the Russian military. The goal is not necessarily to completely cut off communications or destroy every vehicle that passes through them. The key is to slow the movement of supplies, increase uncertainty, and force the enemy to devote increasing resources to protection and clearance tasks.

If a convoy must constantly stop to inspect the road, if each journey requires additional escorts, or if a route remains closed for hours after a mine appears, the cumulative effect can be as damaging as the direct destruction of the vehicles. Modern warfare depends on both the speed and the volume of supplies, and any reduction in the pace of movement has a direct impact on units deployed on the front.

Roads to Crimea under pressure. Information from Russian sources suggests that the campaign is focusing especially on the land corridor that connects Russia with Crimea through the occupied territories of southern Ukraine. Roads such as the M-14 between Mariupol, Melitopol and Chongar or the R-280 Novorossiya have suffered partial closures, traffic restrictions and damage caused by mines dropped from drones.

In one of the most notable incidents, a Kamaz truck was reportedly destroyed and several vehicles damaged after mines fell on a road near the border between the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. These episodes also occur after a series of attacks against tankers and convoys that had already forced Russian authorities to modify routes and temporarily limit heavy traffic.

Drones that turn asphalt into a trap. The novelty does not lie in the use of mines, a practice that has been present for decades in any conflict, but in the way they are deployed. According to various analysts, Ukraine is using drones to distribute 3D printed light mines equipped with motion sensors or magnetic systems. These charges do not need to completely destroy a vehicle to be effective.

It is enough to immobilize a truck in the middle of a road to create traffic jams, interrupt traffic and create a concentration of targets vulnerable to subsequent air attacks. A single mine can stop an entire column. Several mines spread periodically along a route can paralyze traffic for hours while inspections and clearance operations are carried out.

The creation of interdiction zones. The tactic is part of a broader concept that seeks to turn Russian logistics routes into true layered interdiction zones. Drivers traveling these roads must already contend with FPV ambush drones, autonomous drones assisted by artificial intelligence, and targeted attacks against anti-aircraft defenses protecting logistics corridors.

The addition of air-dropped mines adds a permanent threat under the wheels of each vehicle. The result is a combination of risks that multiplies the psychological and operational pressure on any movement of supplies, forcing Russia to simultaneously monitor the sky, the roadsides and the asphalt surface itself.

The Russian adaptation. The Russian response is already beginning to be seen in some sectors of the front. Ukrainian sources claim to have destroyed Tor-M2 anti-aircraft systems that were being transferred to reinforce the protection of these vulnerable routes. At the same time, some analysts consider that Moscow could try to extend to the roads furthest from the front the anti-drone network and tunnel structures that it already uses in closer combat zones.

However, they recalled in Forbes that protecting hundreds of kilometers of open roads represents a logistical and economic challenge much greater than shielding some sections near the battle lines. Precisely therein lies the logic of the Ukrainian strategy: the more extensive the infrastructure that must be protected, the more difficult it will be to guarantee its security.

Crimea as an indirect objective. The pressure on the roads also has a strategic dimension related to Crimea. Ukraine has been attacking anti-aircraft systems, radars, missile launchers and other assets that protect the peninsula for months.

If land routes supplying the region become slower and more dangerous, Russia could be forced to rely even more on the Kerch Bridge, one of the few high-capacity logistical arteries that continue to directly connect Crimea to Russian territory. This would increase the importance of an infrastructure that has already been a priority objective of kyiv on repeated occasions.

Keep a road open to make it useless. In short, the great innovation of this campaign is that it does not necessarily seek to permanently cut a route. Ukraine appears to be pursuing something more subtle: keeping the roads technically open while progressively reducing their usefulness. If each convoy requires more time, if each inspection causes delays and if each stop increases exposure to new attacks, the logistics flow is degraded without the need to destroy the infrastructure.

Russia has dedicated enormous efforts to protecting its convoys and supply corridors from drones. The Ukrainian response now consists of moving the problem a few meters further down. When the objective stops being the truck and becomes the road on which it must travel, the task of protecting logistics becomes much more complex.

Image | X, Oleksandr Ratushniak, Sasha Maksymenko

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