The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, but as early as 2014 Russia annexed, without any basis in international law, the Crimean peninsula, as well as other territories in eastern Ukraine. Reclaiming Crimea is not only a strategic objective in the current conflict, but also a matter of settling old scores between the two neighbouring states, which now seem a long way from signing a ceasefire.
In a secret underground bunker, Reuters interviewed the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, also known as 'Madyar', regarding the campaign that has been disrupting the Novorossiya motorway over the past few weeks, leading to the virtual halt of Russian military transport in that occupied region of Ukraine, and to fuel rationing in Crimea. "We will isolate Crimea in the near future," promised the head of Ukraine's drone unit.
The truth is that Ukraine's campaign of attacks on Russian-occupied territory has almost completely halted the advance of the front line, cutting off supply lines almost entirely. They have also focused on weakening their air defences, destroying strategically important targets already on Russian soil, such as arms factories and oil infrastructure. The ultimate goal, according to Brodvi, is to force Moscow to retreat, rather than advance. "We will create the necessary conditions to make it extremely difficult for any member of the military or defence industry worker to remain in Crimea, in the temporarily occupied territories, or to use the access routes to them."
In the first five months of this year, drone units killed more than 50,900 Russian military personnel and struck more than 176,500 enemy targets. The average daily casualty rate was 337 Russian soldiers and 1,169 enemy targets. In addition, they destroyed 174 Russian air defence systems valued at around $5.4 billion. Russia has identified Brodvi as a high-value target and he is on its most-wanted list.