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Ukraine's "Logistics Lockdown" campaign has turned the Kinburn Spit into a lethal trap, isolating 2,500 Russian troops. By deploying middle-strike drones and remote mining across the single land route through Heroiske, Ukrainian forces have severed Russian supply lines and neutralized artillery threatening Mykolaiv. Discover how Kyiv’s ISR network and precision strikes are breaking Russia's hold on key Black Sea trade routes.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Ukrainian Isolation Campaign Strands 2,500 Russian Troops on Kinburn Spit
01:49 - Russian Forces Withdraw Beyond Heroiske Under Ukrainian Fire Control
04:03 - $113M "Logistics Lockdown" Program Systematizes Middle-Strike Drone Warfare
05:41 - Russian Troops Disguise as Civilians in Violation of Geneva Conventions
08:14 - Leleka Thermal Drones Track Nighttime Russian Troop Movements
09:13 - Partisan Group ATESH Disrupts 337th Regiment Supply Lines
11:15 - Ukrainian Precision Strikes Eliminate Russian Artillery and Rotation Units
12:06 - Strategic Value of Kinburn Spit in the Black Sea and Dnipro River
13:14 - Blockade of Mykolaiv Ports Drives 84 Percent Export Decline
15:09 - Will Ukraine Launch a Counter-Invasion to Reclaim the Kinburn Spit?
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Ukraine's "Logistics Lockdown" campaign has turned the Kinburn Spit into a lethal trap, isolating 2,500 Russian troops. By deploying middle-strike drones and remote mining across the single land route through Heroiske, Ukrainian forces have severed Russian supply lines and neutralized artillery threatening Mykolaiv. Discover how Kyiv’s ISR network and precision strikes are breaking Russia's hold on key Black Sea trade routes.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Ukrainian Isolation Campaign Strands 2,500 Russian Troops on Kinburn Spit
01:49 - Russian Forces Withdraw Beyond Heroiske Under Ukrainian Fire Control
04:03 - $113M "Logistics Lockdown" Program Systematizes Middle-Strike Drone Warfare
05:41 - Russian Troops Disguise as Civilians in Violation of Geneva Conventions
08:14 - Leleka Thermal Drones Track Nighttime Russian Troop Movements
09:13 - Partisan Group ATESH Disrupts 337th Regiment Supply Lines
11:15 - Ukrainian Precision Strikes Eliminate Russian Artillery and Rotation Units
12:06 - Strategic Value of Kinburn Spit in the Black Sea and Dnipro River
13:14 - Blockade of Mykolaiv Ports Drives 84 Percent Export Decline
15:09 - Will Ukraine Launch a Counter-Invasion to Reclaim the Kinburn Spit?
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:
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NewsTranscript
00:01Russia's control of the Kinburn spit for much of the war is supposed to be yet another sign of the
00:06country's dominance.
00:07Tiny though this patch of land may be, it's of immense strategic value, not least because of its proximity to
00:13the Black Sea.
00:14Russia has essentially been waiving its occupation of the spit in Ukraine's face for years, so Ukraine just spat right
00:22back in Russia's face.
00:23Putin is staring down the barrel of one of his biggest defeats of the war so far, as Ukraine is
00:28slowly and satisfyingly breaking Russia at the Kinburn spit.
00:32Now the spit isn't a strategic stronghold, it's a trap, where 2,500 Russians are being starved of supplies and
00:39equipment, all due to Ukraine's brilliance.
00:42On August 31st, United24 media reported that Putin's forces are now at the weakest they have ever been on the
00:48Kinburn spit.
00:49A Ukrainian isolation campaign has left around 2,500 soldiers essentially stranded on the spit, as Ukraine's drones disrupt supply
00:58routes and destroy artillery that was once stationed there.
01:01Russia, as an attacking force, is spent.
01:04Now all that Putin's forces can do is hold on in the vain hope that something is coming to save
01:09them, as Ukraine's drones fly overhead watching their every move, and the spit is further isolated.
01:14By the way, if you're enjoying this video, consider subscribing and let us know your thoughts below.
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01:24The drone strikes are only part of the equation.
01:27Those drones allow Ukraine to attack the spit directly, as well as focus on the logistics that feed into this
01:32scrap of territory.
01:34Remote mining is the other element of the strategy.
01:36Ukraine is laying mines, perhaps using ground robots, across the land-based route into the Kinburn spit, which are disrupting
01:43deliveries of fuel, food, and ammunition.
01:46Russian forces that might have been able to support those on the spit are also being pushed back, leaving the
01:512,500 troops left behind even more isolated.
01:54We're seeing the perfect example of this at Zelizhny port.
01:58Once occupied by Russians, who could use the port to project power in the Black Sea, Zelizhny is emptying out
02:03as Putin's forces withdraw to the settlement of Hira Iska.
02:07Supplies and command posts are also being pulled further east into the mainland, making them harder, or should we say
02:13damn near impossible, for the men defending the spit to actually reach.
02:16Speaking to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, a Ukrainian soldier who operates under the callsign Java spells out the situation.
02:23The enemy has moved, he has already moved behind Hira Iska, he has moved away from the spit.
02:28They are shouting at the interceptions that they cannot do the logistics, that they do not want to go there,
02:32because it's death.
02:33They are simply being sent to their deaths because the road is cut off.
02:37They have very little ammunition.
02:38They also have few UAV interception means.
02:41You see, they cannot provide for the people they send deep into the Kinburn spit, Java, who is the commander
02:46of the Intelligence Unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, declares.
02:48UA.News confirms the withdrawal beyond Hira Iska, noting that Russian forces are now gathered in places like Pokrovka and
02:56Pokrovska, where they are unable to make moves to support those isolated on the Kinburn spit.
03:01Ukraine's reconnaissance drones are constantly in the air, watching and waiting for those soldiers to try anything.
03:07Any attempt to offer support is met with drone strikes, assuming the mines don't get the supporting soldiers first.
03:13And the same goes for any Russians attempting to leave the Kinburn spit.
03:17They now have an entire kill zone to navigate if they are to have any chance of escape.
03:21Ukraine has created a lethal trap here.
03:24Stay on the spit and starve, or try to leave by running through a gauntlet of destruction.
03:28There is another element to this trap that makes it even more dangerous to Russia.
03:32Do you remember Zelizhny port?
03:34That area offers a land route running from the direction of Zelizhny port toward Hira Iska, allowing Russia to funnel
03:40supplies through Hira Iska and west onto the Kinburn spit.
03:43Russia's big problem now is that this is the single land route that can be used to supply the spit.
03:47Ukraine now has that route under fire control, which has forced the withdrawal beyond Hira Iska.
03:53The point we are making here is that Putin's forces are out of options.
03:56They had a single route they could use.
03:58That route is now a kill zone.
04:00What we are seeing here is a logistical lockdown, just as Ukraine planned it.
04:04Since late spring, Ukraine has been using its new wave of middle strike drones to attack Russian logistics behind the
04:10front lines.
04:11The impact this campaign has had on Crimea has captured all the headlines,
04:16as that peninsula is being isolated on an even grander scale than the Kinburn spit.
04:20But the lockdown of Russia's logistics is happening all over the country.
04:23Ukraine has even codified and created incentive programs to encourage these types of strikes.
04:30On May 27th, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced it would allocate around $113 million to the logistics lockdown program.
04:38That funding will be distributed via Ukraine's E-points system to the best-performing units and brigades.
04:44In other words, if a unit is using drones to take out logistical arteries, nodes, and equipment,
04:49it will get points that it can spend to buy more drones, giving the unit the ability to do even
04:54more damage.
04:54What this does for Ukraine is allow it to zero in on the units that are delivering the best results
04:59in the middle strike campaign,
05:01ensuring they are supplied with the equipment they need to build on those results.
05:05We can't say for certain that this is what's happening on the Kinburn spit.
05:08But the peace is a line.
05:10Ukraine is using its devastating middle strike strategy to isolate the Russian soldiers on the spit.
05:15The panic among the Russians is very real.
05:18They know that they're stuck in a trap,
05:20which explains the content of the intercepted communication that Java mentions.
05:24Troops are screaming about the spit being a death zone because that's what Ukraine has turned it into.
05:28Now, Russian soldiers are getting desperate.
05:30Rather than attempting to fight back,
05:33they're trying a dirty trick that they hope will lead to Ukraine causing unintended casualties in and around the spit.
05:39Putin's patsies are dressing up as civilians.
05:42The reality in the Kinburn Peninsula is that there are still civilians who live in this area of Ukraine.
05:47Russia is taking advantage of that fact, United24 media reports.
05:51Soldiers are dressing up in civilian clothing and operating from residential buildings,
05:55all in the hope that Ukraine won't strike them.
05:58Ukraine's forces have to work hard to ensure Russia's dirty trick doesn't lead to mistakes.
06:03Another soldier, with a call sign Holova,
06:05who serves as the deputy commander of a Ukrainian reconnaissance company, highlights this.
06:09He tells Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty,
06:11If we find that there was enemy movement here,
06:14we do not detect signs that there could be civilians somewhere nearby,
06:17in a neighboring house, in this house,
06:18God forbid that is,
06:20reconnaissance is being conducted.
06:21Then this target is added to the list of planned targets.
06:24Ukraine's approach is now to completely destroy every enemy shelter they find,
06:28giving the trapped troops on the Kinburn Spit fewer options for hiding away.
06:32Russia has used this civilian clothing strategy before.
06:35It was reported as far back as November 2025,
06:38when the Kiev Independent commented on claims made by Ukraine's military
06:41that Russian soldiers in Pokrovsk were disguising themselves as civilians.
06:45The idea, as in the Kinburn Spit,
06:47is to complicate defense efforts,
06:50extending the length of Ukraine's kill chain,
06:52as work has to be done to determine who is a real civilian
06:55and who is a Russian soldier in disguise.
06:58Fast forward to April,
06:59and something similar was being reported on the Orkiv front.
07:02We call this tactic dirty,
07:04because it's a violation of international humanitarian law.
07:07It's perfidy,
07:08a practice that subverts the Geneva Conventions,
07:11which are meant for the protection of persons,
07:12with the intent to kill, injure, betray or capture an adversary.
07:17Common examples include falsely using the Red Cross logo
07:20or a similar protective emblem
07:21to pretend that you're something you're not,
07:23allowing you to use the ruse to conduct a strike.
07:26Russia's Kinburn Spit soldiers and many others across the front
07:29are doing the same thing when they dress as Ukraine's civilians.
07:32Another war crime chalked up on the growing list for Putin.
07:35But it's a war crime
07:37that isn't going to help the soldiers stuck on the Kinburn Spit.
07:40Ukraine has deployed its trap perfectly,
07:422,500 isolated troops are being broken as we speak,
07:47and Putin is furious.
07:48Not just about the trap.
07:50Russia's president knows that there were warning signs
07:52that something like this was coming,
07:54and he also knows that losing the Kinburn Spit
07:56would spell very bad news for Russia's Black Sea strategy.
08:00But before we dig deeper,
08:01this is a reminder that you are watching The Military Show.
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08:06now is the perfect time to hit the button
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08:10Russia's trapped forces are stuck on a narrow,
08:14sandy peninsula that is about 40 kilometers long.
08:17The Kinburn Spit is the last part of the Mykolaev Oblast that Russia holds,
08:22and crucially, it's where Russia has been keeping artillery
08:25that it can use to bomb locations within the oblast.
08:28But now there's nothing that Russia's forces can do
08:30to turn the Spit into a strategically viable piece of territory.
08:34The artillery has been withdrawn,
08:36as we'll explain in a moment,
08:38and Ukraine's drones are on the hunt constantly.
08:41As Metzer points out in its report,
08:43Ukraine is using a drone called the Leleka,
08:46which is capable of flying at an altitude of about a kilometer,
08:49making it incredibly difficult for the trapped troops to detect or strike.
08:52That drone delivers real-time footage of Russian troop movements day or night.
08:57The latter ability, which comes as a result of the Leleka using thermal imaging,
09:01is especially useful for detecting the Russian forces using civilian clothing to hide themselves.
09:06Real civilians sleep at night.
09:09Russian soldiers tend to try to prepare for operations or move around.
09:12All of this has been prefaced by something that occurred several months ago.
09:16Back in early June, Russian soldiers started to withdraw from the Kinburn Spit.
09:20At the time, there was speculation about what this could mean.
09:23Were the soldiers being forced out by Ukraine,
09:26or rotating out to enable other soldiers to take their positions?
09:29Regardless, we were already starting to see the seeds of Ukraine's isolation strategy being planted.
09:34According to the Kiev Post, the Ukrainian partisan group Ateş
09:38was already reporting on disruption to key supply routes into the Kinburn Spit,
09:42which was making it more difficult for elements of Russia's 337th Regiment
09:46to access supplies and ammunition.
09:48That was the reason for the withdrawal, Ateş claimed at the time.
09:51However, we have since seen Russia replenish some of its forces.
09:55Perhaps what was really happening at this time was that Ukraine was pushing forces out,
09:59allowing Russia to send more in,
10:00and then building on its lockdown strategy to ensure those new soldiers would be isolated from support.
10:06Back in June, military political observer Oleksandr Kovalenko pointed out
10:10that the Russian withdrawal wasn't necessarily indicative of Ukrainian success.
10:13He highlighted the pressure on Russian logistics in the region, stating,
10:17If we compare the current pressure on Russian logistics in the Kherson region
10:21with what is happening on the highways in the south of the Zaporizhia region,
10:24it's not yet the same level.
10:26Serious crisis phenomena for the Russian supplies have already formed there.
10:30The Hiraizka settlement that connects to the Kinburn Spit is in Kherson.
10:33The point Kovalenko was making was that the pressure would need to be ramped up
10:37on the logistics supporting the Kinburn Spit
10:38if Russia's forces were to be put under any real pressure.
10:42That pressure is exactly what we're seeing now.
10:45Ukraine has ramped up its logistics lockdown in the Kherson region,
10:48which has the knock-on effect of achieving what we thought was being achieved back in June.
10:53That doesn't mean a withdrawal is happening.
10:55Quite the opposite.
10:55Russia's forces are now trapped on the Kinburn Spit.
10:58Those forces will either attempt to escape,
11:01making them prime candidates to become the latest casualties,
11:04or they'll waste away on a 40-kilometer scrap of land
11:07that Russian logistics can no longer reach.
11:10Either way, there are terrible tactical consequences for Russia.
11:14We're seeing the start of these consequences already.
11:16What Russia's soldiers are no longer able to do is the big problem for Putin.
11:21And one thing they can no longer do is rotate out,
11:23as Ukraine has been striking the vehicles, bikes, and quad bikes used for rotations.
11:28On top of that, the artillery that has for so long been a threat on the Kinburn Spit
11:32is becoming a non-factor.
11:34The firing positions on the Spit are being wiped out by Ukraine's systematic strikes,
11:39meaning Russia can no longer unleash artillery volleys
11:41against the coastal regions of Mykolaiv,
11:43with anything other than the long-range artillery
11:45that they have located deeper east into the Kherson region.
11:49The Kinburn Spit and its short-range artillery
11:51have become practically useless for this element of the Russian pressure campaign,
11:55which ultimately means that Mykolaiv is now a lot safer than it was before.
11:59Not 100% safe, but certainly safe from attacks that originate from the Spit.
12:04While Russia will be stung by its lack of artillery presence,
12:06the main reason why Ukraine's Kinburn Spit isolation strategy represents
12:10such a massive defeat is what it means for Russia in the Black Sea.
12:15The Spit isn't just about getting into proximity of Mykolaiv for strikes.
12:19This small scrap of land provides whoever controls it with a strategic edge in the Black Sea.
12:24That's why Russia has actively tried to hold the Spit for as long as it has.
12:28As Euromiden Press points out, Russia could previously use its artillery and drones
12:32to obstruct maritime access to ports in Mykolaiv,
12:36even if it wasn't attacking the oblast directly.
12:38The Spit also looms over the entry to the Dnipro River system,
12:42which not only connects the Black Sea, but also bisects Ukraine and travels so far north
12:47that it can theoretically provide access to Kiev and other territories,
12:51assuming it could be used for travel.
12:53That river system isn't safe to traverse.
12:55If Russia tried it, the small boats it would have to use
12:58would become obvious and helpless targets for Ukraine's drones and artillery.
13:02Still, control over the Kinburn Spit also allows Russia to determine
13:05what maritime traffic, if anything, can get in and out of the Dnipro River system.
13:11Still, it's the Mykolaiv ports feeding into the Black Sea that really matter here.
13:15The ports in that oblast are only exceeded in size by those in Odessa,
13:19meaning whoever controls the Kinburn Spit can also impact Ukraine's exports.
13:24Russia has been using its control over the Spit to cause major problems in this area.
13:29According to Pravda, the period between August 1st and August 27th,
13:33the seen Ukraine's agricultural product exports declined by 84.3%
13:38when compared to the same 27-day period in July.
13:41This is a microcosm of an ongoing problem linked both to production inside Ukraine
13:46and Ukraine's ability to get its products out into the wider world.
13:50The Kinburn Spit doesn't dictate every aspect of Ukraine's exports,
13:54but it's a key piece of territory that has a very clear influence.
13:57That's why Russia wants to hold it.
13:59But now, thanks to Ukraine's brilliant trap,
14:02Putin's forces are on the verge of being forced into giving up the Spit.
14:05It's now a matter of battlefield calculus.
14:08Russia could try to brute force the logistics that Ukraine has dismantled,
14:12but that would come at a high cost
14:13and involve the sacrifice of dozens of vehicles
14:16under the hope that a handful will be able to break through
14:18for resupplies and rotations on the Spit.
14:21France 24 also says that holding the Kinburn Spit in the first place
14:25is a relic of Russia's original plans for Odessa,
14:28which have fallen apart.
14:29Russia seemed to want to take that region earlier in the war.
14:33Now, not so much, as the focal points for the war are the Donbass and Zaporizhia.
14:38Symbolically, Russia holds onto the Spit
14:40because it knows that losing it would allow Ukraine to claim the complete liberation of
14:43Mykolaiv, which is a headline that Putin doesn't want to see circulating anywhere.
14:48But as it stands, Russia's forces are simply absorbing damage with no recourse.
14:53How long will they be willing to stay when they have no options for countering
14:56and are increasingly useless due to the loss of artillery?
14:59That's one of the big questions related to the immediate future of the Kinburn Spit.
15:03Another relates to Ukraine's plans for the Spit.
15:05Could Ukraine launch a counter-invasion to liberate the Kinburn Spit once and for all?
15:10It's possible, but in our opinion, also unlikely.
15:13If Ukraine installs troops onto the Kinburn Spit,
15:16it will face the same problems that Russia's troops have right now.
15:18They'll be isolated from support and subject to shelling from the Kherson region.
15:22Though Ukraine has indicated that it wants the Spit back,
15:25as we saw in June when its forces raised the Ukrainian flag on the Spit,
15:29a full occupation would be risky.
15:31Instead, what's more likely to happen is that Ukraine maintains and builds upon
15:35its current strategy.
15:37Exerting fire control over the Kinburn Spit and the surrounding logistical routes
15:41is enough to make the Russian forces stationed there useless.
15:44If those forces are driven away,
15:46Ukraine could maintain fire control without sending troops into the Spit.
15:50Leave the territory in limbo rather than taking it outright.
15:53While this would mean Russia can attempt to reoccupy the Spit at any time,
15:57all it would be doing is knowingly sending soldiers right back into the trap
16:01that Ukraine has already sprung.
16:02This is what we anticipate seeing in the coming months.
16:05If Ukraine makes the Kinburn Spit unusable,
16:08Russia experiences a loss as symbolic as it is strategic.
16:12Mikhailov would be liberated.
16:14Russia would experience yet another Black Sea-related failure
16:17in the wake of losing a massive portion of the Black Sea fleet
16:20that was supposed to give Russia a naval advantage.
16:23Ukraine can slowly break Russia at the Kinburn Spit.
16:262,500 Russian soldiers are already feeling the pain.
16:30Those numbers will whittle away as Ukraine turns the screw.
16:34Putin has had to deal with Ukraine spitting in his face
16:37with this isolation strategy at the Kinburn Spit.
16:40But hundreds of kilometers away,
16:41there's another K that is giving the Kremlin trouble, Kaliningrad.
16:45NATO just sent the last thing that Russia wanted to see near the exclave,
16:49and you can find out what it is if you watch our video.
16:51But before you go,
16:52everything you see here is researched, verified, and produced by real people.
16:57If you value that, subscribe, comment below,
17:00and consider becoming a member for access to exclusive content.
17:04And thank you, as always, for watching.