Bridges were often mined to prepare them for destruction in case of a sudden Ukrainian counterattack

KYIV, UKRAINE—Ukrainian officials said Thursday that the country’s military has destroyed two bridges deep inside Russia’s Belgorod region in a bold operation that highlights the growing impact of cheap, first-person-view (FPV) drones on the battlefield.

The strikes, which targeted stashes of Russian mines and ammunition near the Belgorod-Kharkiv border, were carried out by the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, a Ukrainian military unit that claimed responsibility for the mission.

“(We) saw an opportunity and took it,” the unit said, according to a Twitter translation.

Bridges Supported Russian Resupply

Bridges in this region near the border have been used to support Russian resupply routes near the front line for months now. “The bridges, mined in this way, were, according to information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, used by the Russian military to resupply their personnel who are conducting an offensive in the Kharkiv region,” the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.

The bridges themselves had also been mined by Russian forces to prepare them for destruction in case of a sudden Ukrainian counterattack. This is a defensive measure that Ukraine itself has employed during the war. In February 2022, during the opening days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine destroyed several bridges leading toward the capital Kyiv to slow Moscow’s advance. In Belgorod, Ukrainian forces appear to have turned that same tactic against Russian forces, this time using drones.

Intrigued, the Brigade Investigated with a Drone

The 58th Brigade, which was apparently already monitoring the area, said it first became suspicious after noticing some suspicious activity near the bridge.

“It became clear that something was going on there,” a 58th Brigade representative said, according to CNN.

However, standard reconnaissance drones could not fly underneath the structure without losing the signal, so the brigade sent in an FPV drone instead. The unit used a drone with a fiber optic feature that allowed it to investigate the area under the bridge.

“We saw the mines and we struck,” the unit’s representative said.

The Drones Were Used to Attack Anti-Tank Mines

Video released by the unit shows the drone flying towards the bridge and spotting the hidden mines before detonating in a massive explosion. A second camera that was placed nearby captured the explosion from a distance.

CNN geolocated the bridge to the Belgorod region of Russia, which borders the Kharkiv region to the south. After their initial success, the unit said they went on to check another bridge in the area and discovered it was also mined. The unit then launched a second drone and hit another powerful blast.

Drones Cost Less Than $725 Each

The operation, while audacious, was also notable for its cost. According to the unit, the drones they used to attack the anti-tank mines cost between 25,000 and 30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias each.

That is roughly $600–$725, or less than a typical smartphone. By contrast, under normal circumstances, destroying bridges that far inside Russia would require the use of expensive guided missiles or precision-guided bombs. For example, Ukraine has previously used U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets to attack infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk region.

The HIMARS launchers themselves cost millions of dollars each while the rockets cost tens of thousands. In comparison, the Belgorod operation was achieved using drones that cost a fraction of that price.

FPV Drones Have Been Used by Ukraine for Years

The 58th Brigade’s use of FPV drones to attack Russian ammunition highlights how the technology, while not new, is increasingly shaping the battlefield. Ukraine has used relatively inexpensive drones in this way for years.

In June, Ukrainian forces used small drones smuggled in on foot from Russia to strike or damage dozens of Russian aircraft at military airfields. Military analyst Mykola Bielieskov said in June that FPV drones are allowing Ukraine to strike critical targets in Russia without using up any of its limited supply of Western-provided munitions.

“(We) see that even not particularly expensive technologies, when applied creatively and without restrictions, can produce the most significant effect,” Bielieskov, a research director at the Middle East Institute, wrote at the time.

Ukraine Is Facing Harder Fighting in the East

The timing of the bridge destruction in Belgorod comes at a moment when Ukraine is increasingly facing difficult battles along the frontline in the east of the country. Moscow’s forces have been grinding forward in eastern Ukraine over recent weeks and are also waging a near-daily campaign of missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities.

At the same time, Putin has so far blocked any discussion of a ceasefire, vowing instead to continue the current offensive. Against this backdrop, the destruction of the bridges near the Kharkiv region of Ukraine was a rare bright spot for Ukraine’s embattled forces.

Russia Has Not Said Anything about the Attacks

Russia has not yet officially commented on the bridge destruction, although the loss of the two bridges will disrupt Russian logistics and supply lines in the Belgorod region, hindering the flow of reinforcements and munitions to the front near the Ukrainian border.

The Belgorod operation is a reminder for Ukraine’s military that as this war continues, ingenuity and adaptation will be a matter of survival. With Western support often limited and Russia enjoying a massive advantage in numbers and artillery, Kyiv has been forced to improvise. FPV drones, often cobbled together using commercial components and modified by volunteers, have become one of its most effective and most versatile weapons.

“As for these drones, it is difficult to overestimate their role and help in reconnaissance and surveillance, and targeted destruction of our targets,” a representative from the 58th Brigade said. “In a situation where there are no weapons, this is a great way to achieve effective results.”