Ukraine hits the Crimean Bridge with underwater explosives. Russian drones hit twice as many targets in May as in the previous month. NATO is pushing Europeans to boost air defenses in response to the threat of Russian aggression, according to Bloomberg News.
Ukraine hits Crimean Bridge with underwater explosives
Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday hit the Crimean Bridge connecting Crimea to Russia with explosives planted underwater, the agency said in a statement.
The whole operation took several months. Ukraine’s Security Service said that its agents had mined the piers of the bridge and detonated the first explosive at 4.44 a.m. Tuesday. There were no civilian casualties, it added.
Head of Ukraine’s Security Service, Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk supervised the operation and coordinated its planning.
“God loves the Trinity, and the Security Service of Ukraine always sees things through to the end and never does the same thing twice. We previously struck the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition underwater,” Malyuk was quoted as saying in a statement.
“There is no place for any illegal Russian facilities on the territory of our state. Therefore, the Crimean Bridge is a legitimate target, especially considering that the enemy used it as a logistical artery to supply its troops. Crimea is Ukraine, and any manifestations of occupation will receive our tough response,” he continued.
Ukrainian military news site Defense Express described the ways how the explosives could have been planted under the bridge.
The mission was possibly carried out by underwater drones as the weight of the explosives (1,100 kg in TNT equivalent) excludes the role of combat swimmers in the operation, the analysts said.
Ukraine’s Security Service could have deployed the Toloka drone, Defense Express said. It was publicly presented a while ago and then nothing was heard about it for a while. The TLK-400 version of the drone measures four to six meters long, has a range of 1,200 kilometers and a 500-kilogram warhead. The TLK-1,000 drone measures four to 12 meters long, has a range of 2,000 kilometers and a payload capacity of 5,000 kilograms.
The second possibility includes the use of the Marichka drone that measures six meters long, is one meter in diameter, has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers and can carry more than 1,000 kilograms of weight. “However the range of the drone could have been reduced because of a shorter cruising distance,” Defense Express said.
An underwater drone would have to travel more than 650 kilometers to get to the bridge. “The last few kilometers are the most difficult, as it is necessary to account for the presence of Russian acoustic sensors. Additionally, the drone must carefully navigate the fairway to avoid hitting the floating barriers,” Defense Express said.
Another possibility is that the drone was attached to the hull of a ship heading to the Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait, it added.
Russian drones hit twice as many targets in May as in previous month
Similarly to April, there were days in May when Russia did not launch major drone attacks on Ukraine, Ukrainian news outlet Novynarnya said on June 1 having analyzed daily updates issued by the Ukrainian Air Force throughout the month. At the same time Russian drones hit twice as many targets as they did in April.
Russia did not use Shahed drones on May 9 and May 10 when Putin declared a three-day ceasefire around the Victory Day celebration. Russia still sent the drones into Ukraine on May 8.
Russia used a total of 4,126 missiles and drones against Ukraine in May. It used an average 133 aerial targets a day and 142 in an attack.
Throughout May, Russia sent at Ukraine 4,003 drones, including decoys.
That’s 1,527 drones more than in April when it launched 2,476 drones at Ukraine, but 125 drones less than in March when it used 4,198 drones in attacks on Ukraine, Novynarnya assessed.
Russia used an average 138 drones in a single attack throughout May, an increase from 91.7 in April and 135 in March, and a decrease from February’s 139.5.
The intensity of drone strikes remained high.
Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed or neutralized in flight a total of 3,289 drones throughout May, including 1,852 that were shot down. They took down 1,198 drones in April, 2,435 drones in March, 2,209 in February and 1,598 in January.
An average 63.8 drones were destroyed in an attack in April, an increase from April’s 44.4 and a decrease from 78.5 in March and 79 in February.
Some 1,437 decoy drones went off radar after being disabled by electronic warfare systems. Russia deployed 900 such drones in April, 1,386 in March and 1,593 in February.
Russia is building up the use of decoys.
In May, 714 Russian drones, including Shaheds and Gerans, hit targets. The figure marks an almost twofold increase from the previous month when 378 drones hit targets. In March, 377 drones reached targets, and in February, 105 drones hit targets.
An average 24.6 drones a day hit targets in May, an increase from four drones a day in February, 12 in March and 14 in April.
Russia used missiles against Ukraine 13 times throughout May, an increase from seven in April. It launched major combined drone and missile attacks on May 24 and May 25, using more than 10 missiles in a single strike.
On May 24, Ukrainian air defenses destroyed six out of 14 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles.
On May 25, Ukraine’s military shot down 45 of 55 Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles and neutralized in flight two of four Kh-59/69 guided missiles. The air defenses missed nine ballistic missiles and a Kh-22 air-launched cruise missile.
Throughout May, Russia launched at Ukraine 64 Kh-101 and Kalibr missiles, 47 Iskander-M/Kn-23 ballistic missiles, eight Kh-59/69 guided missiles, two S-300 surface-to-air missiles and a Kh-22 anti-ship air-launched cruise missile.
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down eight of 47 ballistic missiles.
More drones have been recently hitting targets as Russia has changed its drone tactics. Instead of launching drones across the country, it now focuses the attacks on particular cities, using swarms of drones to simultaneously strike targets. This further complicates the work of overwhelmed air defenses. The tactics result in a larger scale of destruction and a higher number of drone hits.
NATO is pushing Europeans to boost air defenses in response to threat of Russian aggression, according to Bloomberg News
NATO is asking European member states to expand ground-based air-defense capabilities fivefold as the alliance races to fill a key gap in response to the threat of Russian aggression, Bloomberg News said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
The ramp-up will be discussed at a gathering of North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday, the people said on condition of anonymity as deliberations take place behind closed doors.
NATO members are also in dire need of ramping up ground-based air-defense systems that shield against threats including ever-more sophisticated drones, missiles and fighter jets, according to a senior European military official.
The alliance has scaled back on such systems over the past three decades as NATO’s attention shifted outside its Cold War-era sphere to focus on threats in the Middle East and North Africa, the official said.
The boost in weaponry is part of broader ambitions to raise defense spending across the alliance. Spurred by US President Donald Trump, NATO members are coalescing around a target of spending 5% of economic output — 3.5% on core defense and another 1.5% in defense-related outlays on areas including infrastructure, cyber defense and civilian preparedness.