ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — Russian military forces are working to neutralize a powerful Ukrainian drone strategy by hiding military cargo in civilian vehicles and deploying advanced electronic jamming equipment designed to knock out Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, according to Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots who spoke with Reuters.
Ukraine’s so-called “mid-strike” drones — capable of accurately hitting targets dozens of kilometers behind the front lines at relatively low cost — have fundamentally changed the nature of the conflict. These drones are frequently operated through Starlink connections, which had long been considered resistant to jamming attempts.
Throughout this year, Ukraine has used mid-strike drone campaigns to hammer Russian supply lines, fuel storage sites, air defense systems, and command centers. The effort has disrupted Russian logistics and created fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.
A Reuters crew that visited Ukraine’s 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment in the southern Zaporizhzhia region heard from four drone commanders and pilots about the growing list of Russian countermeasures.
JAMMING SYSTEMS
An advisor to Ukraine’s defense ministry, Serhii Beskrestnov, identified one specific Russian jamming system called the Volna Kupol Garant. He said the device emits a signal powerful enough to destabilize Starlink connections across an area of roughly 20 square kilometers — about 7.7 square miles. Approximately 10 of these systems have been detected so far, he said.
However, the jamming units have themselves become targets. The 422nd regiment has participated in strikes against two of these systems. One was destroyed just hours after being located, in a joint operation with Ukraine’s SBU security service. Video of one such attack showed a massive explosion as a drone struck a site containing six large trailer-like boxes.
“As soon as we struck that installation, our Starlink-equipped (drones) flew without problems,” said a crew commander who goes by the callsign ‘Dyryhent.’
Meanwhile, Musk has blocked Russian forces from accessing Starlink to prevent Moscow from using it to guide its own drone attacks.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did Russia’s defense ministry. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the specific tactics Russia is employing.
HIDING SUPPLIES IN CIVILIAN VEHICLES
During the Reuters visit to the 422nd regiment, soldiers working under the dim red glow of headlamps loaded a high-explosive warhead into a winged drone. The propeller engine coughed to life, and the craft — called the “Zozulya,” or “Cuckoo” — was launched by catapult into the darkness, heading southeast toward Crimea to strike a base used by Russian drone operators.
Drone commanders described how Russian forces have adapted their supply logistics to avoid Ukrainian strikes. Fuel and other materials are now being concealed in everyday civilian vehicles.
“We hit water tankers and the tankers were burning because there was gasoline inside,” said Kolesnyk, one of the commanders. “We’ve hit painted-up milk trucks that had diesel fuel in them.”
Russian forces have also begun running small fuel convoys escorted by pickup trucks armed with machine guns, taking back roads to stay off surveillance radar, and using civilian cars, quadbikes, and motorcycles to move fuel, ammunition, and supplies to the front, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
Russia is also using camouflaged underground shelters, abandoned structures, agricultural buildings, and civilian gas stations to store military fuel and supplies, intelligence officials said.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, called Ukraine’s mid-strike campaign perhaps the most significant battlefield development of the year — but acknowledged that Russia is beginning to find ways to push back.
“If they scale production of the jammers, they could make it more difficult to conduct the middle-strike campaign,” he said.
Still, the campaign has not halted deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine. Russia continues to hold roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, four years after launching its full-scale invasion, and not every Ukrainian drone strike finds its mark.
During the Reuters visit, the 422nd regiment fired a RAM-2X drone at a fuel tanker — and missed. The surveillance drone tracking the truck was then shot down by a Russian Tor surface-to-air missile system.
“At least we know it’s there now,” said one crew member, who logged the Tor missile system into Ukraine’s digital battlefield targeting database — marking it for a future strike.
