Ukraine’s drone campaign is tightening the noose around Crimea. After crippling key bridges and supply routes, Ukrainian forces struck the Armiansk crossing, reportedly destroying around 50 Russian vehicles in minutes. With major logistical arteries severed and fuel shortages spreading, Russia’s ability to sustain Crimea is under growing pressure. In this video, we break down Ukraine’s strategy, the destruction of critical crossings, and why Crimea may be more isolated than at any point since the war began.
00:00 - The Armyansk Bridge Trap
02:48 - Destroying the Chonhar Bridge
05:44 - The Logistical Chokehold
09:30 - Disabling the R280 Highway
12:41 - Crimea's Fuel Crisis Intensifies
15:48 - Tourism Collapse & Kremlin Panic
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SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/wVAyjMaZ
00:00 - The Armyansk Bridge Trap
02:48 - Destroying the Chonhar Bridge
05:44 - The Logistical Chokehold
09:30 - Disabling the R280 Highway
12:41 - Crimea's Fuel Crisis Intensifies
15:48 - Tourism Collapse & Kremlin Panic
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/wVAyjMaZ
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NewsTranscript
00:00It just keeps on getting worse for Russia. Crimea was already in dire straits.
00:05Ukraine's bombardment of the R-280 had turned a logistical artery into a highway to hell.
00:12Now it gets even worse. Ukraine is systematically targeting every single bridge that leads into Crimea.
00:20Giant fireballs are engulfing them all. Supply vehicles are being swatted like flies by Ukraine's drones.
00:26The Russian snake has just been decapitated.
00:30And there's one bridge that has been hit harder than most. It's not the one you're thinking of.
00:3550 Russian vehicles drove onto this bridge. A few minutes later, poof, they were gone.
00:41On June 11th, Ukrainian forces did what they do most nights in the occupied territories of their country.
00:47They located targets and sent powerful mid-range drones to strike.
00:51Only this time was different. Ukraine wasn't trying to hit air defenses to take out troop concentrations.
00:57It had the last functional overland bridge leading into Crimea in its sights.
01:02The Armyansk crossing in the Kherson Oblast is Russia's saving grace.
01:07After a devastating campaign by Ukraine, that crossing is the only bridge left standing
01:12that provides Russia's forces with a direct overland route into Crimea via Ukraine.
01:18Trucks and fuel tankers have been rerouted across that bridge, creating a logjam of targets that
01:23were just waiting for Ukraine's drones to find them.
01:27Spoiler alert, Ukraine found its targets.
01:29The night of June 11th saw Ukraine unleash a lethal storm of drones all over the Armyansk crossing.
01:36Spearheaded by the 1st Separate Assault Regiment of the Ukrainian military,
01:39the strike did more than damage Russia's last land bridge into Crimea.
01:43It crippled every single vehicle that was trying to use it.
01:47Once the dust had settled and the smoke had cleared, the numbers came in.
01:51About 50 of Russia's supply vehicles had been destroyed in minutes.
01:55A single overnight strike left them burning on the only Crimean bridge that Russia has left.
02:00Russia should have seen this coming.
02:03Putin's patsies probably knew exactly what was going to happen.
02:07Their problem was that Ukraine had left them with no choice.
02:10The only reason so many supply trucks were taking the Armyansk crossing in the first place
02:15was because of what Ukraine had done to another bridge in the Kherson oblast just a few days before.
02:21Russia had been forced to divert its trucks or else leave them in Kherson where they couldn't sustain Crimea.
02:27Putin might now be wishing that he'd simply left the trucks be, but he couldn't.
02:30He's caught in a catch-22 of Ukraine's making as he needs to supply Crimea.
02:35But he can't risk crime without Ukraine's drones having a field day against the trucks
02:39that are all being sent to follow a single route toward the peninsula.
02:42The trap was set. Ukraine sprung it masterfully.
02:46To understand the genius of Ukraine's latest move, we need to take a trip to the Chonar Bridge.
02:51Like the Armyansk crossing where Ukraine just brutally cut down 50 Russian vehicles,
02:55the Chonar Bridge was a logistical artery connecting Crimea to the Kherson oblast.
03:00Scratch that, it was THE logistical artery.
03:03A series of strikes in June did the damage.
03:06Now, per the 1st Separate Assault Regiment Commander, Dmitry Filatov, the Chonar Bridge is no more.
03:12Ukraine's strikes against the bridge led to critical damage,
03:16meaning the Chonar Bridge can no longer support any civilian or military traffic.
03:20Satellite images from the scene tell the full story.
03:23In before and after pics, we see what critical damage really means.
03:27In the before picture, the bridge is intact.
03:30In the next one, it's gone.
03:32Lost to the drone strikes that Ukraine has carried out with impunity,
03:35Russia has already deployed a makeshift pontoon crossing to substitute for the bridge.
03:40But that isn't going to work out.
03:42Ukraine can hit that crossing at any time,
03:44and it's nowhere near large enough to sustain the type of traffic needed
03:47to keep Crimea supplied by way of Kherson.
03:51After the Chonar Bridge was damaged, the enemy concentrated a large number of trucks carrying
03:55military supplies on the Amiensk route, Filatov reveals.
03:59And that brings us nicely back to the bridge where Ukraine just crippled 50 vehicles.
04:04Filatov was one of the leaders of that operation, and he gave us some interesting insight
04:08into just how quickly Ukraine is now able to go from making a decision to conducting an attack.
04:14Only six hours passed between the decision and the strike.
04:17We had already anticipated that the enemy would eventually shift traffic to alternative routes,
04:22so operations against the Amiensk corridor were prepared in advance, Filatov says.
04:27We told you that Ukraine had forced Russia into a Catch-22 situation.
04:31What we saw on June 11th was Ukraine closing the trap around Russian supply vehicles that had been
04:35left with no other choice than to bunch up on a bridge they were never supposed to take.
04:39But for the jaws of Ukraine's trap to snap shut more than the destruction of the Chonar Bridge was
04:45needed, Filatov points that out, noting that 50 Russian supply vehicles now burn on the Amiensk
04:51crossing because of the hard work of other units carrying out strikes against Mariupol
04:56and the road into Badyansk.
04:58What we see here is lethal coordination, the ability to strike multiple targets at once,
05:04forcing Russia to split its defenses to the point where they are simply unable to cope.
05:08Filatov and his unit took advantage of the diversion and their drones did the damage.
05:14Half a century of strikes has just left Crimea more isolated than ever before.
05:19Ukraine has officially confirmed the attack and footage has been released, showcasing what its
05:24drones did. Over and over we see videos shot by the strike drones themselves as they descend onto
05:29their targets. Bridges are hit. Vehicles are left burning. These strikes are precise and more
05:36worryingly for Putin, conducted against key targets that appear to be almost completely undefended.
05:42For Russia, what's even more worrying is that this isn't a one-off event. Ukraine has been carrying
05:47out a clear campaign against Russia's logistics, leading to it breaking daily records for the
05:52destruction of supply vehicles and fuel tankers. May 29th seemed to mark the kicking off of Ukraine's
05:58campaign as it destroyed 483 of Russia's supply vehicles in 24 hours, a single-day record for
06:05the Ukraine war at that point. Since then, Russia's vehicle casualties have been in the hundreds
06:10practically every single day. June 14th provides a perfect example as UATV reports that 401 Russian
06:18vehicles and fuel tankers were left burning by Ukraine's drones. There are fireballs all over the
06:24land routes leading into Crimea and they're having a devastating effect on Putin's attempts to maintain
06:29his grip on the peninsula that he stole from Ukraine back in 2014. 50 vehicles down on one
06:35route is impressive, but it's really just a highlight in a weeks-long campaign that has disabled
06:39thousands of Russian vehicles. What we've just seen on the Amiensk crossing is Russia paying the price
06:45for being forced to reroute its logistical traffic, but that isn't the full story. The real problem for
06:51Putin is this. It's not just the Chana bridge that Ukraine has destroyed, forcing the use of the
06:57Amiensk crossing in the first place. Four of Russia's land bridges to Crimea have been taken out,
07:02and it all happened in a single night. Worst of all for Putin, it's not even Ukraine that is crowing
07:08about what it just did. Hiding somewhere in Kherson is Vladimir Salda, the head of the puppet government
07:14that Russia has installed in the occupied regions of the Oblast. As he trembles, terrified about what
07:19Ukraine is going to do next, he has taken the telegram to reveal just how extensive Ukraine's
07:24strikes against Russia's logistical arteries are. Last night, the enemy attacked bridges over the
07:29North Crimean Canal near Preobrazhynka and Myrna, a road bridge on the Perikop-Omyansk highway,
07:35and a bridge near the village of Stavky, Salda said on the social media platform, revealing the full
07:40scale of Ukraine's operation. He then descended into the usual Russian nonsense of trying to downplay
07:46Ukraine's achievement. He claims there is some damage. Salda, 50 burning vehicles,
07:52a completely shattered Chonar bridge, and the knowledge that Russia's supply trucks
07:55can't take any route to Crimea without being targeted by Ukraine's drones is a little more
08:00than some damage. The Kherson public governor also claimed that Russia's air defenses destroyed 45 of
08:06Ukraine's strike drones during the June 11th attack. No word about how many drones those defenses
08:11are missed. Perhaps it was all Ukrainian drone debris taking out vehicles and crossings overnight
08:16on June 11th. Could it get any worse for Putin right now? If you know Ukraine, you already know
08:22the answer to that question. On top of this June 11th blitz, Ukraine spent the previous four days
08:27choking off all of the northern routes that Russia has to the Crimean peninsula. There are the strikes
08:32against the Chonar bridge, which we mentioned earlier. However, Ukraine has also hit the land
08:36bridge connecting Henichesk and the Arabat Spit, which was taken out of commission on June 10th.
08:42That's what forced Russia into diverting traffic to Amiensk and another crossing in Perikop.
08:47Both were hit on June 11th. Russia is running out of time.
08:51Bit by bit, Ukraine is chopping away at the head of the Crimean snake. That head is now hanging on
08:56by a
08:56thread, and dollars to donuts, Ukraine will be hitting every remaining route that Russia has through
09:01Kherson and into the peninsula until they are all rendered useless.
09:05Soon, Russia's military won't be able to divert its supply vehicles. They will be left at a standstill,
09:11as Ukraine's ruthless and perfectly coordinated campaign isolates Crimea.
09:15But before we dig deeper into what's happening on the Crimean peninsula, this is a quick reminder
09:19that you are watching the military show. If you haven't already, remember to subscribe to the
09:24channel so you never miss one of our videos.
09:28Every single strike that Ukraine is conducting, be it against bridges or vehicles attempting to cross
09:33those bridges has a purpose. Ukraine is cutting off the logistical arteries that feed into the
09:38Crimean peninsula. It all started with the R280 road, which Ukraine spent much of late May and
09:44June transforming into a literal highway to hell for Russia's forces. Running from Russia's Rostov-on-Don,
09:50through occupied Melitopol and Mariupol, and onto Crimea, that route is now mostly closed to civilian
09:56traffic. As for freight and military traffic along the roads, it isn't doing so well. At its peak,
10:02around 3,800 freight vehicles drove across the R280 every day, which gives you some idea about the
10:09scale of the logistical operation that Russia was running. Now, according to the commander of
10:13Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdy, traffic along this key stretch of highway has
10:18fallen by a dramatic 71%. Russia now only risks sending 1,100 vehicles per day rather than 3,800.
10:28The knock-on effects are being felt in Crimea. And that's all part of Ukraine's plan of striking
10:33deep inside the Russian rear to cripple the logistical network that enables Putin to maintain
10:38its control over the peninsula. As the Institute for the Study of War put it on June 12th,
10:44continued Ukrainian strikes against Russian GLOCs will likely have cascading battlefield effects and
10:50may complicate Russian preparations for offensive operations. GLOC stands for Ground Lines of
10:56Communication, and it shows us that there is another dimension to Ukraine's mid-range strikes.
11:01As trucks burn and roads are cut off, Ukraine is also taking out the communications between Crimea
11:07and the occupied territories. This is isolation, and it's working.
11:11The Ukrainian fireballs don't even have to be inside Crimea itself for the Russian occupiers on
11:16the peninsula to feel the pain. What Ukraine is doing now is far more intelligent than simply
11:21battering Crimea with missiles and drones, though it still does plenty of that too. We saw that on the
11:27night of strikes against 50 Russian vehicles and four land routes, as the puppet governor of the
11:31Crimean port city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozaev claimed that air defenses at the port had shot down
11:3732 drones between 10pm and midnight on June 11th. If we know Russia, shot down means that at least
11:44some of those drones struck targets. But when it comes to the Crimean land routes, Ukraine is engaged
11:49in a methodical and well-calculated campaign. For Ukraine, the war against Russia will never truly
11:54be over until Crimea is reclaimed. But a direct strike against the peninsula is suicidal, even
12:01this deep into the war. And Russia has spent four years depleting itself as it smashes its teeth
12:06against Ukraine's defenses. So Ukraine strikes from range, in Crimea, around Crimea, against every
12:12single logistical artery that keeps the peninsula supplied. As more roads go down, bridges are destroyed
12:18and vehicles burn, the ammunition, fuel, equipment and supplies that flow between Crimea and the
12:24occupied territories grinds to a halt. This is the brilliance of Ukraine's strategy.
12:29It doesn't need to force Russia out by sending soldiers. Ukraine is making the very idea of
12:34holding Crimea untenable for Putin. And right now, Russia's grasp on Crimea is weaker than it's been
12:40since it first occupied the peninsula, as the pain of Ukraine's mid-range strikes spreads.
12:46Ukraine has created a logistics lockdown using mid-strike drones, including the US-made Hornet,
12:52which has a range of about 150 kilometers. These drones are on continual search-and-strike
12:58operations as they hover over Russian supply routes, ready to take out targets. Other drones are
13:04starting to emerge, such as the Morrigan, which can launch without a runway, allowing Ukraine to respond
13:09even faster to opportunities while creating less risk for the country's drone operators.
13:14We've seen the impact on the R-280, where Russian military traffic has been reduced to a cruel,
13:20but Ukraine's mid-range drones are also causing problems in other occupied regions, such as Luhansk.
13:26There, Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps launched an aerial campaign that has essentially given them control
13:31over large portions of the skies above one of the most critical regions in the Donbas. That control is
13:36allowing the Corps to carry out strikes similar to those we're seeing on the land bridges that connect Crimea
13:41to the Ukrainian mainland. Trucks and roads are being taken out all over occupied Ukraine.
13:47The impact on frontline soldiers is that they're not getting what they need to launch the record-breaking
13:52numbers of assaults that Putin believes will deliver the Donbas to Russia in the summer.
13:56Back in Crimea, 50 trucks going down in Armyansk, along with the hundreds that Ukraine is destroying
14:02all over the occupied territories every day, is manifesting in massive fuel shortages.
14:08This is pain brought to the Russian people occupying the peninsula without Ukraine having to strike them directly.
14:14In a June 11th report published just hours before Ukraine devastated vehicles in Armyansk,
14:20Reuters said that fuel stations across Crimea had run dry as a direct result of Ukraine's logistical
14:26lockdown campaign against Russia's fuel trucks. The outlet claims that witnesses on the ground
14:32in Sevastopol report that gas stations aren't just rationing fuel anymore, they've run out entirely,
14:38with the last station standing being in the resort town of Yevpetoria. It won't be long before that
14:43gas station runs dry as well. And when it does, Crimea's civilians will find themselves unable to
14:49work or travel, which will massively disrupt daily life on the peninsula. The situation in Crimea has been
14:55known for a couple of weeks now, but as Ukraine keeps hitting Russian logistics, fuel shortages are
15:01spreading. According to the Kyiv Post, fuel shortages are now being reported in around a dozen of Russia's
15:06regions. There's no systemic problem, Moscow claims. But there is. Ukraine is battering Russia's fuel
15:13supplies by taking out trucks all over the occupied territories. Russia's fuel crisis is intensifying,
15:19the BBC reported on June 8th. And locals in Crimea are starting to do what Putin never wants them to
15:25do,
15:25speaking up about the damage that Ukraine is doing. I walk to work now. Of course,
15:30this is less convenient than driving, but not a huge problem. All I've got to do now is buy a
15:34horse,
15:35the BBC reports one resident of the city of Simferopol saying, with their tongue firmly planted in their
15:40cheek. Congratulations, Putin. You have your people aspiring toward medieval forms of transportation.
15:47Even one of the most important sources of revenue for the Crimean Peninsula isn't drawing in what it should.
15:52Tourism to the peninsula is on the wane, and a huge part of the reason why
15:56is that travelers don't know if they'll be able to get around Crimea once they arrive.
16:00In a June 11th report, Novaya Gazeta revealed that every two bookings for trips to Crimea
16:05are offset by 10 cancellations. Hotel reservations have declined by a third,
16:11with cancellations rising by 79%. The cars, buses, and trains that shuttle people into Crimea
16:17every year can't be trusted to run anymore, so Russian tourists
16:20are abandoning the peninsula in droves. Why does that matter? Well, for Russia,
16:25summer tourism in Crimea is a critical part of the narrative that Putin wants to spin
16:29about the peninsula. When civilians flock to Crimea to enjoy the coast and warm weather,
16:34Russia gets to pretend that the situation in Crimea is normalized, that Russia has so much control
16:40that its people feel safe to be there even after more than four years of war with Ukraine.
16:44The propaganda machine churns, and the illusion is created. But as tourists abandon their Crimean
16:51vacation plans, the illusion shatters. On the tactical level, Ukraine's strikes are about stripping
16:57away Russia's control over the Crimea by isolating the peninsula. But it's these types of propaganda
17:02victories that drive the point home. Slowly but surely, Putin's grip on the peninsula he illegally
17:08annexed in 2014 is slipping. And we can see the loss of control on Russian state TV. According to the
17:14Kyiv Post, pro-Kremlin propagandists on Russian state TV now feel compelled to address the situation in
17:20Crimea. Vladimir Solovyov, who has long been one of Putin's biggest supporters, told his viewers live
17:27that Ukraine is actively cutting Russian logistics to the peninsula. Solovyov is panicking. He believes
17:33that a large-scale amphibious landing could be coming for Crimea that could deliver a devastating shock
17:39to the entire Russian system. Whether that landing comes or not does not really matter. What does
17:44matter is the panic poisoning the propaganda. What Putin has to accept now is that the peninsula that he
17:51has so long paraded as a trophy has transformed into a noose around his neck. Every time that Ukraine
17:57destroys a bridge or hits a supply vehicle heading to Crimea, that noose tightens. Now Putin has
18:03an impossible choice. Does he keep his head in the noose and choke, just like the supply lines serving
18:09occupied Crimea, or does he yank his head out and give up control over the peninsula? Putin has to
18:14decide fast. Ukraine isn't going to stop its mid-range strikes, as it continues its strategy to isolate
18:20Crimea to force a Russian withdrawal. There's one thing that we know for sure, 1.5 million occupiers in
18:27Crimea are regretting their decisions right now. The warning shot that came against the Chenar Bridge ahead of
18:32Ukraine's June 11th strikes should have been heeded. You can find out more about Ukraine's initial
18:38strikes against the bridge, along with the brand new drone that was the superstar of the show,
18:42by watching our report. And if you enjoyed this video, remember to subscribe to the military show
18:47so you don't miss what we have coming next. And thank you as always for watching.
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