Military operations to strike logistics routes in temporarily occupied Crimea and a series of attacks on targets in Moscow and other regions of Russia could become one of the most important turning points of the current war. If earlier the main emphasis was on containing the Russian offensive at the front, now Ukraine is increasingly moving the war into the enemy's rear, destroying its logistics, oil refineries and military infrastructure. Experts interviewed by UNN are convinced: such strikes not only weaken Russia's military capabilities, but also create significantly stronger positions for Kyiv in case of future negotiations.
"Cutting off" Crimea destroys one of Putin's main goals
The military, using Ukrainian-made middle-strike UAVs, struck key Crimean bridges near Chongar and Armyansk. The strikes were carried out using FP-2 and "Begemot" drones. The bridge connecting the Kherson region with Crimea in Chongar was hit twice – on the night of June 6-7, and also on the night of June 9.
In addition, on June 8, a bridge leading from Henichesk to the Arabat Spit came under attack. Two more bridges across the North Crimean Canal – near the settlements of Preobrazhenka and Myrne near Armyansk – were attacked on June 11.
Furthermore, on the night of June 13, the "Dzhankoi" checkpoint, a railway bridge and a pontoon crossing were struck. In the video recordings of the strikes shown by the 1st Separate Assault Regiment named after Dmytro Kotsiubailo, instead of a traditional sight, there is a green heart, characteristic of attack drones produced by Fire Point.
The series of strikes on bridges and logistics routes connecting temporarily occupied Crimea with mainland Ukraine became another stage of the Ukrainian strategy to isolate the Russian group in the south.
The bridge from Henichesk to the Arabat Spit attacked by Ukrainian UAVs
Military expert Oleh Zhdanov believes that the peninsula remains the most vulnerable link in the Russian occupation system.
We have always said from the very beginning that it would be easiest to liberate Crimea, rather than the territory of mainland Ukraine. Why? Because the mainland part adjoins the Russian Federation, and its logistics are very powerful. But Crimea is a territory that can be captured, but is extremely difficult to hold
According to the expert, the current strikes have not only a military effect of cutting off the logistics of Russian troops, but also a political one.
"Creating conditions for the liberation of Crimea nullifies all the goals that Putin set for this war. I mean back in 2014, when he spoke about 'returning to a safe haven' and promised to turn Crimea into an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier.' Now this aircraft carrier is sinking. The main political goal of seizing foreign territories and destroying Ukraine as a state is being broken," Zhdanov explained.
Strikes on Crimean logistics present Russia with a choice: either to transfer more and more resources to protect the occupied peninsula, or to risk gradually losing control over Crimea.
Moscow in the crosshairs
Equally important have been the regular strikes of Ukrainian long-range drones on targets in, among others, the Moscow and other regions of Russia. June turned out to be very eventful in this regard.
In particular, on Friday, June 5, and on the night of Saturday, June 6, the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck a number of important military and logistics facilities of the Russian troops in the Leningrad region and Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation.
Later, on the night of June 10, 2026, using FP-5 Flamingo missiles produced by the Ukrainian company Fire Point, the enterprises "VNIIR-Progress" for the production of navigation systems for missiles and UAVs, as well as an oil refinery and a tanker of the Russian "shadow fleet" were struck.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike on a military plant in Cheboksary with Flamingo missiles. The distance from the nearest section of active combat engagement in Ukraine to the facility, as stated by the General Staff, is over 900 km.
The struck enterprise is one of the key manufacturers of navigation equipment for high-precision weapons of the Russian Federation. The plant produces satellite navigation receivers and antennas of the "Kometa" type, which are used in Shahed (Geran-2) attack UAVs, Kalibr cruise missiles, Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems, as well as unified planning and correction modules for aerial bombs.
On June 16, in the Moscow region and Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian long-range UAVs FP-1 were recorded attacking oil facilities. Analysts indicate that the struck oil refinery is located approximately 15 kilometers from the Kremlin. It was about the strike on the Moscow Oil Refinery. It was attacked for the second time two days later – on June 18 – and ceased its operations.
Also, on June 20, the Russian Federation reported a drone attack on the Tyumen Oil Refinery (formerly the Antipinsky Oil Refinery).
Smoke after a strike on an oil refinery in Tyumen
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed strikes on the Moscow Oil Refinery and in the Rostov region. The strikes were carried out, in particular, by FP-1 attack drones produced by the Ukrainian company Fire Point. The Russian Pantsir air defense system proved incapable of effectively countering the drones.
"Our long-range sanctions have reached the Tyumen region in Russia, that's also oil refining. More than two thousand kilometers from our state border. Effective. New upgraded FP drones have worked: now they can reach targets at a distance of 3 thousand kilometers. Grateful to the engineers of Fire Point. Completely fair responses to Russian strikes against our state. The plan of Ukrainian long-range sanctions is being implemented," noted Zelenskyy
In addition, on June 22, it became known about an attack on a plant in Russian Voronezh. According to preliminary data, parts for Iskander-K and Kh-101 missiles were manufactured there.
As military analysts explain, the main effect of such attacks lies not only in the physical destruction of objects. They demonstrate to Russians that the war can no longer remain somewhere far from their megacities.
Furthermore, the strikes force Russia to spend enormous resources on protecting rear areas, transfer air defense systems from the front, and disperse military reserves, which weakens their offensive capabilities.
Negotiations from a position of strength
International expert Stanislav Zhelikhovsky is convinced that such active Ukrainian deep-strike strikes are already directly influencing the future architecture of negotiations to end the war.
"I think so. This strengthens Ukraine's negotiating position. Of course, when these negotiations resume. But it all depends on how effective and systematic Ukraine's strikes on targets both in the occupied territories and deep within the Russian Federation will be," he noted in a comment to UNN.
According to the expert, if Ukraine continues to scale up long-range attacks, the Kremlin will sooner or later be forced to reconsider its own position.
If there are more and more such attacks, so to speak, and Ukraine scales them up, as representatives of the Ukrainian authorities talk about, then, obviously, sooner or later the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will be forced to sit down at the negotiating table and talk not only about where Ukraine should withdraw from, if we are talking about territories, but will move away from the principle of presenting maximalist demands to Ukraine towards finding compromise options for ending active hostilities, because he will understand that with the intensification of such attacks, Russia will lose
In his opinion, the Russian leadership is already facing problems that are becoming increasingly difficult to hide.
"In fact, Ukraine is really strengthening its capabilities, and Russia is losing, it is no longer effective on the battlefield, and it also cannot do anything about the strikes we are delivering. That is, we see that Russia has very big problems with air defense," Zhelikhovsky noted.
Ballistics could become a new deterrent factor
An even more serious argument in Ukraine's favor could be the launch of serial production of its own ballistic missiles.
As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported, Ukraine already has a company that is approaching the development of ballistic missile production.
"In Ukraine, we have a company capable of producing ballistic missiles. Fire Point is moving towards this. And you also have capable companies," noted the head of state.
The Ukrainian company Fire Point reported that the launch of the FP-9 long-range ballistic missile is expected by the end of the year
"We are already certifying our FP-7 ballistic missile for combat use, and the FP-7.x as a missile, which Denys Shtilerman mentioned yesterday, (it - ed.) is almost ready. We expect the launch of the FP-9 by the end of this year," noted CEO and CTO of Fire Point Iryna Terekh.
If today the main pressure on Russia is created by deep-strike and middle-strike unmanned systems, the emergence of ballistic missiles could radically change the balance of power.
Unlike drones, ballistic missiles have a significantly higher flight speed and are much more difficult to intercept by air defense systems. This means that not only logistics hubs or oil refineries could be under threat, but also key command centers, military airfields, and enterprises of Russia's military-industrial complex.
Zhelikhovsky is convinced that the stronger Ukraine becomes in the military dimension, the stronger its position at the negotiating table will be.
"He (Putin – ed.) will be forced to sit down at the negotiating table, because the more effective, the stronger Ukraine is in the military, in the military aspect, the more powerful it will be, the stronger Ukraine's negotiating positions will be during negotiations with the aggressor country, whenever they resume there," the international expert noted.
According to him, Ukraine should increase pressure during the electoral process in Russia, as parliamentary elections are planned there.
So today Ukraine is not only defending itself. Strikes on Crimean logistics, attacks on targets in Moscow and other regions of Russia demonstrate the emergence of a new strategy aimed at systematically exhausting the enemy far from the front line.
If mass production of Ukrainian ballistic missiles is added to UAV strikes deep into Russia, Kyiv will receive an even more powerful mechanism of influence on Russia. This will allow Kyiv to participate in negotiations not under conditions where the Kremlin issues ultimatums, but in a situation where the price of continuing the war for Russia becomes too high.
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