Ukrainian troops destroy bridge in first-ever drone-led operation – The Telegraph
Ukrainian forces have destroyed a bridge in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast using drones, in what is believed to be the first known case of a drone operation leading to the complete destruction of a bridge.
Source: The Telegraph
Details: The Telegraph reported that Ukrainian troops had been using UK-made Malloy T-150 drones over a period of two months to target a bridge controlled by Russian forces.
The mission was conducted in early 2025 but had not been publicly disclosed until now. The bridge crossed a tributary of the Dnipro River known as the Konka and was considered a critically important target.
Ukrainian forces attempted to destroy the bridge using airstrikes and HIMARS missile systems for months, but without success. The task was then assigned to the 426th Unmanned Systems Regiment.
The regiment's commander, Colonel Oleksii Bulakhov, said that "bridges are relatively easy to destroy from underneath, but they are engineered in a way that makes them extremely robust from the outside".
A breakthrough came after a Russian serviceman had posted photos of the bridge's internal structure. This allowed Ukrainian engineers to identify vulnerable points and conduct precision strikes on key elements.
The unit conducted 30 missions over 60 days, delivering 1.5 tonnes of explosives and compromising the structural integrity of the bridge. A final missile strike ultimately brought it down.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
