AFU Officer: Russian Troops' Offensive Has Stalled

• 20.05.2026, 15:49

Ukrainian drones are turning Russian supply routes into a kill zone.

Ukrainian drones are getting deeper hitting the occupiers' logistics in the captured territories. In the area of Donetsk, Mariupol and Starobeshevo, Russian highways are no longer safe.

How are the strikes on the Russians' logistics reflected on the frontline and the course of hostilities? About this site Charter97.org talked to a military expert, reserve major of the National Guard of Ukraine Alexei Getman:

- It is very difficult to calculate in some percentage terms how much worse it has become for the Russians on the front line. But the AFU has really started to launch medium-range strikes - at a distance of 20-30 to 150-180 kilometers behind the battle line.

- Columns, warehouses - tactical and operational, control centers, and so on - are being attacked. Over Mariupol, yes, indeed, we can say that the sky is practically under our control. This is especially true of the roads along which the occupiers can carry cargo from Russia along their logistical routes.

This cannot but affect the situation. If they used to move there calmly, now they have difficulties.

But it is up to the occupiers themselves to assess how much more difficult it has become. Russians should write a report: "It has become more difficult for us". And how much worse - this is, I don't know, an emotional assessment. In these strikes, it is important that the AFU successfully destroy drone operators. This worsens their ability to reconnaissance and to attack, drone attacks on us. This is an important point.

We are hitting not only the warehouses and logistics that I listed. A serious part of the strikes is just hitting the locations of the operators we are calculating. If the drone isn't on fiber optics, you can see where it's being controlled from. And if it's being controlled by whatever navigation they're using, I mean, it's a receiver-transmitter. We can see where the drone is as a receiver, so we can see where the transmission is coming from. So the operator is emitting and operating in exactly the same way. We calculate it and attack it.

- You have already mentioned that Ukrainian drones can operate in the Mariupol area and hit the Mariupol-Donetsk highway. What are the consequences for the occupiers of cutting land routes to Crimea and southern Ukraine?"

- As of today, by and large, the Russian troops' offensive has been stalled. The number of combat clashes remains high, and there is virtually no advance.

This is the assessment of both our DeepState maps, and (the Institute for the Study of War maps https://charter97.org/ru/news/2026/5/12/683738/), and the intelligence of various countries - America, Britain, Germany, Estonia. There is practically no advance of Russian troops.

That's how these strikes affect the situation. It is not only because of them that the Russian offensive has been stopped, but it is one of the important components. It is strikes like these that limit the Russian ability to mount a serious offensive.

The difficulties with supplies in the south will also matter. This is one of the areas of strike that the Russians themselves have announced. They talked about attacks in the Pokrovsko-Mirnograd, Konstantinovsky, South Zaporozhye directions - let's call it one general direction.

If the Russian occupiers have difficulties with the supply of everything they need, it will be difficult or almost impossible for them to carry out offensive actions.

We see in the General Staff reports every morning how many and what has been destroyed. Usually we emphasize the number of troops, but look at how much equipment is destroyed. It has to be brought in, renewed and replenished somehow. And if it is impossible to bring it in, that is the result.

I think that we will see a decrease in the amount of destroyed enemy equipment. Not because the AFU has become worse at destroying it, but because it will start to run out.

- Is it possible that Russia will simply not be able to properly supply its occupation forces in the captured areas of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions? What should the AFU do for this?

- The AFU is striving for this. We strive to prevent Russia from supplying its troops normally. But it is simply impossible to completely block all the goat trails, especially in summer.

But to make sure that the necessary amount of shells, artillery and equipment is not delivered in the way that is necessary to conduct combat operations according to staff schedules and combat orders - this is what we can do. And that is what we are doing.

And to completely block it - why? To hunt for some fool with a satchel who will carry a box of grenades? He will not carry this box to the front line anyway, and we will liquidate him there.

The AFU needs to destroy serious convoys, serious equipment, heavy machinery, and artillery that is moving. This is what will hit Russian logistics the hardest.