Celebrating his seizure of Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir V. Putin later called the peninsula an \u201cunsinkable aircraft carrier,\u201d hailing Russia\u2019s return there as a symbol of revanchist ambition.<\/p>\n
Now the Ukrainian military is hammering Crimea with swarming drone attacks, seeking to transform it from a Russian-occupied fortress into a nightmare for the Kremlin to manage.<\/p>\n
All of this has shaken life in Crimea to the greatest extent since Russia illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. It has also caused some Russian forces along the southern front to shift into defensive operations, according to Kostiantyn Mashovets, a Ukrainian military analyst.<\/p>\n
Overnight Wednesday into Thursday, Russia bombarded Kyiv, Ukraine\u2019s capital, killing at least 30, according to Ukrainian emergency services, in a deadly show of force after weeks of Ukrainian attacks.<\/p>\n
Moscow has spent years fortifying Crimea, tripling its troop presence, deploying advanced air defenses and coastal batteries, and studding the land with missile launch systems. Fighter jets and bombers packed airfields, new vessels joined the Black Sea Fleet, and the $3.7 billion Kerch Strait Bridge gave Russia direct access to Crimea.<\/p>\n
None of that could change geography.<\/p>\n
Crimea juts out into the sea, leaving it initially vulnerable to Ukraine\u2019s maritime drones. In the first years of the war, Ukraine targeted Russia\u2019s naval headquarters in Sevastopol, drove its warships from Crimean ports and turned the peninsula\u2019s waters into a hunting ground.<\/p>\n
Its efforts to strike at Crimea, though, were limited by the weapons Ukraine had at the time. Now Ukrainian officials say their ever-evolving arsenal can inflict more pain, potentially enough, they hope, to bring Moscow back to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no place to hide in Crimea,\u201d said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a retired commanding general of U.S. Army Europe. \u201cThe Ukrainians have the ability to touch every single place where there\u2019s an air defense weapon or a logistics hub or an airfield or headquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swarming Russia\u2019s Air Defenses<\/p>\n
The current Ukrainian campaign on Crimea at the outset targeted Russia\u2019s air defense network.<\/p>\n
In June alone, Ukraine claimed to target 31 air defense systems and radars, the most frequent military targets for its drone strikes.<\/p>\n
The biggest success of these strikes, according to Ukraine, was what it called the destruction of the $100 million Neva-B radar system, an asset capable of tracking targets up to 370 miles away. A drone video posted by the Ukrainian military showed the attack on June 25. The New York Times could not independently verify if it was damaged, but military analysts said it appears it is not operational.<\/p>\n
The attacks have exposed significant vulnerabilities in Russia\u2019s defenses, which were originally built for traditional missiles and aircraft, not fleets of drones.<\/p>\n
Pounding Roads and Bridges<\/p>\n
With air defenses weakened, Ukraine then went after supply lines.<\/p>\n
After strikes on ships and the halt of ferry operations, Russia now depends solely on narrow land and bridge corridors. Ukrainian forces are trying to cut them off.<\/p>\n
The attacks on bridges have created a cat-and-mouse dynamic, with Russia rushing to repair the damage and Ukraine striking again.<\/p>\n
Ukraine damaged one such bridge, the Chonhar Bridge connecting Crimea to Ukraine\u2019s southern Kherson region, on June 7. Russia quickly set up a temporary pontoon bridge; days later, Ukrainian drones struck the temporary bridge.<\/p>\n
Over the past two weeks, Russia appears to have built a causeway, which could be harder for drones to take out, alongside the damaged bridge. Construction vehicles could be seen working on the causeway in images taken by Vantor, a satellite imaging company.<\/p>\n
Along with bridges and railways, Ukrainian drones targeted cargo trucks, fuel tankers and trains throughout the month. The burning husks of large trucks transporting fuel and derailed train cars were filmed and photographed by civilians and Ukrainian military drones, highlighting supply chain disruptions.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian military units posted numerous videos in June touting their strikes across Crimea. These clips, showing first-person views from drones striking military and logistical sites, have become a pillar of Ukraine\u2019s wartime propaganda efforts to illustrate battlefield successes against Russia. The Times collected these videos, verified their locations and cross-referenced the strike locations with satellite imagery. The Times could not verify the full extent of the damage to Ukraine\u2019s claimed targets.<\/p>\n
Kateryna Stepanenko, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said Russian forces were increasingly trying to counteract Ukrainian drone strikes by patrolling critical southern routes with drones and interceptor units.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they need more mobile air defense to blunt the impact of Ukrainian strikes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian commanders expect Russian troops to adapt, but said they would shift their tactics in turn.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdaptation can take days, weeks or months, but we consistently find new ways to strike in any direction, at any depth, with whatever assets we have,\u201d said Artem Bielienkov, the chief of staff of Ukraine\u2019s 412th Unmanned Systems Brigade.<\/p>\n
Knocking Out the Grid<\/p>\n