Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's new drone strategy -- cripple Moscow's airports, make Russian population 'pay'

[Dennis Donovan]

Kyiv Independent - Ukraine's new drone strategy — cripple Moscow's airports, make Russian population 'pay'

by Tim Zadorozhnyy
May 22, 2025 8:15 PM

Hundreds of Ukrainian kamikaze drones have flown towards Moscow in recent weeks.

None appear to have even reached the Russian capital, yet the effect on the city — and the wider country — has been hugely significant.

Ukrainian drones have forced at least 217 temporary airport closures across Russia since Jan. 1, independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on May 14, citing data from Russia's state aviation agency Rosaviatsia.

The figure already surpasses the combined total for all of 2023 and 2024, underscoring Kyiv's growing ability to put pressure on Russia, even in areas far from the border with Ukraine.

According to Serhii Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Defense Army's Southern Division, the surge in disruptions reflects a strategic shift in Ukraine's drone campaign.

/snip

[Torchlight]

1. Clausewitz argued that the only clear objective of war

is to prevent the enemy from waging it.

If Putin continues to show such disregard for the lives of his own Russian soldiers, perhaps we will see how much more his citizens value their own comfort and freedom of movement—as those, too, are gradually taken away.

I'm beginning to suspect a much longer goal in Pres. Zelensky's play on this.

[Attilatheblond]

2. Whoa! Thank you for introducing me to a figure from history I never heard about

Gonna make for some enriching reading this afternoon.

Yep. Only way to stop Putin is to make it impossible for him to keep sending Russians into the meat grinder that is the Ukrainian People who will not be conquered. And it will help when Russian civilians see the problem of Putin's war up close and personal.