Ukraine’s military has destroyed two bridges inside Russia’s Belgorod region in a brazen attack that also highlighted the growing battlefield role of cheap, first-person-view (FPV) drones. The 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade claimed the bridges in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region were storing Russian mines and ammunition when the drone was sent in to strike them on March 5. A post on the brigade’s official Telegram channel showed a video of an FPV drone approaching one of the targets, spotting a mass of anti-tank mines and detonating in a massive blast.

The explosion was also filmed by another camera at a distance. CNN geolocated the bridge to the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. After the success of the first drone strike, the unit checked another bridge in the area and, upon finding it was also mined, sent in a second drone, which was also destroyed in an explosion.

Bridges Used for Russian Resupply

In its post, the brigade said it received a signal about suspicious activity near one of the bridges on March 3. “It became clear that something was going on there,” a representative of the unit told CNN. The brigade sent a drone to check out the situation, but the reconnaissance model was not small enough to fit under the bridge without losing its signal, so the unit deployed a smaller one equipped with fiber optics.

“The drone entered under the bridge, we saw the mines, and we struck,” the brigade representative said. Ukrainian officials later said the bridges were used to resupply Russian troops operating in the border area with ammunition and mines. The structures had also been mined by the Russian military and prepared for demolition if there had been a sudden Ukrainian advance, the 58th Brigade said.

Bridges Destroyed in Defensive Tactic

Destroying bridges as a defensive tactic to slow advancing troops is not new. In February 2022, in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine destroyed several bridges near Kyiv in an attempt to slow the Russian advance and protect the capital. In the latest example of the tactic, Ukrainian forces now appear to have turned that same technique against Russia.

The 58th Brigade said the drones it used to destroy the bridges near the Russian-Ukrainian border cost between 25,000 and 30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, or roughly $600–$725 apiece, “a far cry from the hundreds of millions of dollars that Western countries have spent on Ukraine’s defense” since 2022. Under normal circumstances, destroying bridges at a distance from the border would require much more expensive guided missiles or precision bombs. For example, Ukraine has previously used U.S.-supplied HIMARS systems to destroy infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk region. Each HIMARS system costs millions of dollars, while the rockets themselves run into the tens of thousands apiece. In comparison, the drones used in the Belgorod strikes each cost less than a smartphone.

Analysts have noted that cheap commercial drones, usually assembled with off-the-shelf parts and modified by volunteers in workshops, are playing an increasing role on the battlefield. In June, Ukraine’s air force used small FPV drones smuggled close to Russian military airfields to destroy or damage dozens of Russian aircraft. Military analyst Mykola Bielieskov told CNN these types of operations highlight how “even modest technology can achieve outsized results when used creatively.”

FPV drones are particularly useful because they offer Kyiv a way to strike targets in Russia without using up scarce Western-supplied munitions, experts say. A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said the Belgorod drone strikes did not use any Western-supplied weapons, including air defense or drones.

Russia has not commented publicly on the destruction of the bridges in Belgorod. Locals in Russia’s Belgorod region, which has been the target of repeated Ukrainian drone attacks in recent months, told CNN that the blasts they heard on March 5 came from destroyed munitions at a warehouse used by the Russian military.

Russian Losses Highlighted by Ukrainian Gains

Ukrainian strikes on the two bridges came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hit a number of obstacles. After grinding its way to small gains in the east, Russian troops have continued a campaign of near-daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. At the same time, Putin has made clear that there will be no cease-fire before Kyiv is willing to accept Moscow’s original demands, which include surrendering Ukrainian land it did not even invade in February 2022.

In this context, Ukraine’s destruction of the two bridges in Belgorod offered a rare bright spot in the war. “Definitely, it is a signal to the enemy that Ukraine is strong,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told CNN after the strikes.

Russia and Ukraine have both claimed battlefield gains over the past few months but have struggled to hold their ground on the frontlines. FPV drones, largely smuggled in from abroad in civilian aircraft before being assembled by volunteers, have been one of Ukraine’s key weapons in the fight. Images in social media posts have also shown how badly Russia’s aviation has been damaged.

A Rare Victory Amid Tough Fighting

Russia’s denial of this success is to be expected. Disrupting the logistics of its forces inside the Belgorod region by destroying a bridge used to resupply Russian forces stationed near the Ukrainian border will not please Russia.

But for Ukraine, where Western supplies of weapons and ammunition are often lacking, and the Russian forces on the ground enjoy a numbers advantage, innovations are particularly important. FPV drones, assembled with parts from commercial off-the-shelf drones and altered in workshops by volunteers, are just one of the weapons Kyiv has increasingly used on the battlefield.

“The value of these drones cannot be overstated,” the 58th Brigade representative told CNN. “They allow us to achieve results that would otherwise require weapons we don’t have.” For Ukraine, whose defense is also increasingly reliant on weapons already in its arsenal and troops already in its ranks, the destruction of the two Belgorod bridges stands as a stark reminder that even cheap, small weapons can have outsized strategic effect.