Ukraine’s 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade has just struck inside Russia’s Belgorod region, destroying two bridges used by Moscow to resupply troops near the frontline with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. The bridges were used to store ammunition and Russian mines, which the unit destroyed using cheap drones. The successful operation is a stark example of how first-person-view (FPV) drones, which can cost as little as $600, are being used in new and creative ways on the battlefield.

As if on cue, an FPV drone flew under one of the bridges and set off its payload, causing a spectacular explosion and plume of smoke. While that footage of the initial attack has been shared widely online, additional footage from a separate camera shows a broader view of the resulting blast (below). Analysis from CNN geolocated the bridge to Russia’s Belgorod region just across the border from Kharkiv. The unit has not officially confirmed this location, but the make of the bridge appears to match those used across the region.

One Strike Becomes Two

Motivated by that success, the unit then proceeded to inspect a second bridge near the same border and found similar preparations had been made to detonate it in the event of an unexpected Ukrainian attack. As if on cue, a second drone launched by the brigade flew beneath the bridge to set off a second explosion in the distance. In a post on Telegram, the 58th Brigade celebrated its victory and used the Russian verb ‘shot’ in the feminine gender to refer to the target as two ‘girls.’

The successful destruction of two bridges over the Seversky Donets River at little cost to Ukraine represents a remarkable achievement. By all appearances, the unit used simple off-the-shelf drones to deliver the strikes, which it said cost between 25,000 and 30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias each, or roughly $600–$725 apiece.

In contrast, such strikes would have required a guided missile or precision-guided munition fired from some distance to reach targets in the middle of Russia. For comparison, Ukraine previously used U.S.-supplied HIMARS launchers to strike infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk region near Belgorod, which have a range of over 80 kilometers. Each HIMARS unit costs millions of dollars, and the rockets used to fire artillery bombs at those ranges run tens of thousands apiece.

FPV Drones Gain More Battle Experience

The successful use of drones to strike deep inside Russia is the latest example of a trend that has been accelerating on the battlefield in Ukraine over the past year. In June, Ukraine used small drones to target Russian military airfields, destroying or damaging dozens of aircraft in the process.

“Their success in these kinds of operations show how even modest technology can have outsized impacts if you know how to use them,” military analyst Mykola Bielieskov recently told Vice.

Analysts have been tracking the growing role of FPV drones in Ukraine over the past year. In one of the first independent investigations of the subject, we found the use of FPV systems by one Ukrainian unit more than doubled in 2023 as the war entered its third year.

At the time, analysts said that growth in the use of the remotely piloted aircraft by Ukraine was most likely the result of a combination of growing demand and resource constraints, which have led to creative applications of cheap commercial technology. FPV drones, which can be built for as little as $600 but often sell for over $2,000 from vendors in Ukraine, have quickly become one of the war’s most essential pieces of technology, giving Ukrainian forces eyes in the sky while freeing up munitions for Western-supplied systems like HIMARS and Stinger missiles.

Since then, they have also made inroads into Russia’s side of the conflict. In April, Ukraine claimed Russian forces used a converted FPV drone with a camera to spy on Ukraine’s army positions in eastern Ukraine.

At the time, British military intelligence suggested the conversion process had been made using a drone from a Russian firm called Hurrican, a vendor known to have sold FPV drones to Russian forces. Subsequent posts from the vendor offered further confirmation, with analysts suggesting the original model used by the Russians had been an X300 drone, which is available on the commercial market for around $1,000.

A Troubling Timeline

While Moscow has not confirmed or denied the destruction of the bridges over the Seversky Donets River, they will undoubtedly complicate its logistics operations in the Belgorod region. Russia has mined the bridge itself in preparation for just such an eventuality, according to Ukrainian authorities, who said the strikes were both a blow to Russian logistics and a message for Moscow as its offensive in eastern Ukraine continues.

For Ukraine, the successful strikes were a rare victory amid a difficult month on the battlefield. While Russian forces have been grinding forward in the east, Kyiv continues to face a barrage of missiles and drones on a near-daily basis, including Russia’s use of Iranian Shahed drones. Ukraine, in turn, has offered few signs that President Vladimir Putin is willing to consider any form of ceasefire, continuing the fighting. As such, the destruction of the two bridges has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise difficult month.