By using a homemade first-person-view (FPV) drone to take out a pair of bridges on Russian territory, Ukraine’s military has shown once again the power of relatively cheap, remote-controlled aircraft to reshape the battlefield. In this case, the unmanned drone was sent into a field near the Ukrainian border with Russia’s Belgorod region to probe under a bridge that had been mined by Russian forces. Ukrainian special forces had become suspicious that the structure was being used as a resupply route for ammunition and explosives hidden nearby by Russian forces. It turned out that they were right.

Videos released by the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, which carried out the attacks on June 28, showed that the drones discovered and then detonated a cache of Russian mines and ammunition stored beneath the bridge. The 58th Brigade said the attack followed the discovery of a similar weapons cache under another bridge nearby.

Targeted Attacks

The use of a drone to investigate a structure suspected of being used by the Russians for logistics was in itself notable. Ukrainian drone use has become increasingly sophisticated over the course of the war, with small, commercial-grade drones being adapted for a range of tasks such as reconnaissance, target marking, electronic warfare and even direct attack.

In this case, the 58th Brigade’s reconnaissance drone was a homemade FPV model costing between 25,000 and 30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, or about $600-$725. Video of the first attack showed the drone being sent under the bridge after being connected to a fiber optics cable to allow it to maintain a signal and fly through an opening in the structure. Once it had reached a small depot under the bridge where Russian anti-tank mines and other ammunition had been stockpiled, the drone detonated its explosives payload.

CNN geolocated the bridge to the Russian Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

The successful attack was then repeated on another bridge in the vicinity, also revealed to be booby-trapped by the brigade’s drones. “We saw an opportunity and took it,” the 58th Brigade said in a statement.

Low-Cost Strike

The significance of the attacks did not just lie in their audacity but also in the fact that it was done with drones that cost less than a modern smartphone. Bridges are crucial parts of any military’s infrastructure that typically require expensive guided munitions to destroy. In this case, Ukrainian forces used drones that can be assembled with commercial parts and enhanced by enthusiasts working on their own.

In the past, Ukraine has used U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems to hit infrastructure in Russia itself, such as targets in the Kursk region in March and April. HIMARS launchers, with their precision-guided munitions, are far more expensive, with each launcher costing millions of dollars. Rockets for the system cost tens of thousands of dollars each. In contrast, the drones used to strike the bridges in Belgorod were priced at less than $1,000.

This is not the first time Ukraine has used commercial drones for maximum impact, either. In June, Ukrainian forces disabled or destroyed dozens of Russian aircraft using small drones smuggled to within striking distance of Russian military airfields.

Window of Opportunity

The strikes on the bridges in Russia’s Belgorod region come as Ukraine faces significant challenges along the frontlines. In the east, Russian forces have been making steady progress, while Moscow’s campaign of near-daily missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities also continues.

In the meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin has also made clear that he is in no hurry for a ceasefire and is preparing to unleash the “most massive” barrage yet of strikes against Ukraine. In this context, the destruction of the bridges on Russian territory by the 58th Brigade offered a rare piece of good news for Ukraine.

Russia has not yet commented on the attacks. The destruction of the bridges will almost certainly make the logistical situation more difficult for Moscow in the Belgorod region by disrupting supply lines to Russian forces stationed near the Ukrainian border.

Creative Solutions

Ukraine’s military appears to have made a virtue out of necessity with the Belgorod bridges. The war has shown that, for Ukraine, which often has to make do with limited Western supplies, innovation and creativity are key to survival against a numerically superior Russian military.

FPV drones have been one of the innovations that have most helped the Ukrainian military. Although they are relatively cheap and can often be built with commercial parts modified by enthusiasts, they have been highly effective in reconnaissance and target marking roles, as well as providing the capacity for direct attack.

“The value of these drones cannot be overstated,” said the 58th Brigade’s representative. “They allow us to achieve results that would otherwise require weapons we don’t have.”

As the war grinds on, Kyiv’s capacity to innovate and strike creatively inside Russian territory could be as important in the long run as NATO’s willingness to supply Ukraine with ever more sophisticated Western weapons. For now, the image of two bridges in Belgorod smoldering in the distance is testament to the impact small, cheap drones can have on the battlefield.