Ukraine Has Managed To Increasingly Hit Deep Inside Russia. Moscow Is Implementing New Tactics To Adapt

Russia is deploying powerful electronic warfare systems designed to disrupt Elon Musk‘s Starlink satellite internet network as Moscow races to blunt Ukraine‘s advantageous ability to conduct long-range drone strikes capable of hitting military targets deep behind the front lines.

According to Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots interviewed by Reuters in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces have significantly expanded their countermeasures against what Kyiv calls its “mid-strike” drone campaign. The effort includes sophisticated electronic jamming equipment, disguised military supply convoys, and new logistics tactics aimed at reducing the effectiveness of Ukrainian unmanned aircraft.

Ukraine’s mid-range drones have emerged as one of Kyiv’s most successful military tools this year. Often operated through Starlink satellite internet terminals, the drones have enabled Ukrainian forces to strike fuel depots, supply lines, air defense systems and command centers located dozens of kilometers behind Russian front lines at a fraction of the cost of traditional missiles.

The sustained campaign has disrupted Russian logistics and contributed to fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea, according to Ukrainian military officials cited by the outlet. However, Ukrainian commanders say Russia has begun responding with increasingly sophisticated electronic warfare systems capable of interfering with the satellite communications that allow drone pilots to control aircraft over long distances.

Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, told Reuters that Russian forces are deploying a jamming system known as the Volna Kupol Garant. The equipment reportedly emits a signal powerful enough to destabilize Starlink connections across an area of approximately 20 square kilometers, or about 7.7 square miles.

Beskrestnov said Ukrainian forces have identified roughly 10 of the systems so far. The installations have quickly become high-priority targets for Ukrainian drone operators. Members of Ukraine’s 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment said they participated in missions that destroyed two of the jamming systems, including one that was eliminated just hours after being detected during a joint operation with Ukraine’s SBU security service.

A drone commander using the callsign “Dyryhent” told Reuters that once the installation was destroyed, Starlink-connected drones resumed operating without disruption. SpaceX has not publicly commented on the reported Russian jamming attempts. The company also did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. They also noted it could not independently verify the battlefield claims made by Ukrainian commanders or confirm Russia’s reported tactics.

Starlink has become a critical component of Ukraine’s military communications since the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The satellite internet system has provided reliable connectivity even after conventional communications infrastructure was damaged, enabling battlefield coordination and supporting the growing role of drones in combat.

Musk has also restricted Russian forces from using Starlink, preventing Moscow from employing the satellite network for its own drone operations. Beyond electronic warfare, Ukrainian commanders say Russian forces have fundamentally changed how they move supplies to reduce losses from drone attacks.

According to the outlet, fuel once transported in clearly identifiable military tankers is now concealed inside civilian-looking vehicles, including water trucks and milk tankers. “We hit water tankers and the tankers were burning because there was gasoline inside,” one Ukrainian commander told Reuters.

“We’ve hit painted-up milk trucks that had diesel fuel in them.” Military intelligence officials also told Reuters that Russian forces increasingly rely on civilian cars, motorcycles and quad bikes to transport ammunition, fuel and provisions to frontline units. Fuel is reportedly hidden inside abandoned buildings, agricultural structures, and even civilian gas stations to make it harder for Ukrainian surveillance drones to identify military targets.

Convoys are also changing. Instead of large fuel columns, Russia is reportedly using smaller groups of tankers escorted by pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns while traveling on secondary roads to avoid aerial surveillance.

Military analysts say these adaptations reflect the growing impact of Ukraine’s drone campaign. Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Reuters that Ukraine’s mid-strike operations may represent the most significant battlefield innovation of the year.

However, he warned that Russia’s expanding electronic warfare capabilities could eventually reduce their effectiveness if deployed on a larger scale.”If they scale production of the jammers, they could make it more difficult to conduct the middle-strike campaign,” Lee said.