A senior Ukrainian drone commander has said Ukraine could carry out up to seven times more strikes on military targets in Crimea if financial assistance promised by Western allies reached the country more quickly.
Maj. Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, said the recent attacks on the Russian-controlled peninsula are the opening stage of a campaign aimed at weakening Crimea's role as a key military base for Russian forces.
"Crimea is one of the key elements in ending this war," Brovdi said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move widely condemned by the international community.
Brovdi said Ukraine's recent operations have already damaged railway bridges, fuel storage facilities and power infrastructure in Crimea, disrupting Russian supply routes and limiting the effectiveness of its air defense systems.
However, he said his forces currently have only about 14% of the resources needed to carry out the campaign at full strength.
According to Brovdi, Ukraine has the capacity to manufacture enough drones, but delays in receiving financial support from international partners have slowed production and military planning.
"It's not a production problem. The main issue is that funding arrives more slowly than our operational plans," he said.
Drone campaign targets Russian military infrastructure
Brovdi said Ukrainian forces have destroyed more than 300 Russian air defense assets in recent months, including missile systems, radar stations and electronic warfare equipment.
He claimed those attacks have reduced Russia's ability to launch missiles from Crimea by weakening its air defense network, although the Associated Press could not independently verify the claim.
He said the campaign is designed to make Crimea unsuitable as a military base by targeting infrastructure used by Russian forces while avoiding civilian facilities.
Ukraine has also focused on reducing Russia's naval capabilities in Crimea, which Brovdi said is important because of the peninsula's strategic location in the Black Sea.
He added that attacks on power infrastructure have affected Russian military operations, though they have also caused electricity disruptions for civilians. Brovdi said he had publicly apologized to Ukrainian residents in Crimea over those disruptions.
Russia adapting to Ukraine's drone attacks
Brovdi said Russia is installing more electronic jamming systems that could reduce the effectiveness of the Starlink satellite internet service widely used by Ukrainian forces.
He also claimed Russia is developing its own satellite communications network as an alternative to Starlink.
At the same time, he warned that Russia has increased the use of faster jet-powered Shahed drones, making them more difficult for Ukraine to intercept.
According to Brovdi, Russia can currently launch up to 77 ballistic missiles in a single attack and plans to increase that number significantly.
He said Ukraine remains vulnerable to ballistic missile strikes because it has limited supplies of interceptors for the US-made Patriot air defense system, the country's primary defense against such missiles.
Brovdi argued that reducing the missile threat requires long-range strikes on Russian missile production facilities.
Online retailer also targeted
Brovdi also said Ukraine has increasingly targeted facilities linked to Wildberries, Russia's largest online marketplace.
He claimed the company supplies goods for the Russian military through its platform, making it a legitimate military target in Ukraine's view.
He added that attacks on the retailer are also intended to make ordinary Russians feel the effects of the war by disrupting a widely used consumer service.
Brovdi declined to say how long the campaign against Wildberries would continue but said strikes would go on until the company could no longer recover quickly.
The Associated Press said it could not independently verify several of Brovdi's claims regarding the impact of Ukraine's operations in Crimea and inside Russia.