Middle strike campaign

The middle strike campaign, launched by the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine in early April 2026 during the Russo-Ukrainian war, has been aiming to achieve a "logistics breakdown" for Russia in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, especially Crimea. The primary targets of the middle strike campaign, characterised by the rapid technological advancements and effectiveness of Ukraine's one-way attack drones, have been Russia's military supply trucks driving on the highway on the land corridor between Rostov-on-Don and Simferopol and Sevastopol in Crimea, which became known as the Highway of Death or the Novorossiya highway.

This 700-kilometre motorway on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine has been playing an important role in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine as ground line of communication (GLOC) for Russia's military logistics, particularly for supplying Crimea. It is a combination of two stretches from the existing Highway M14 of Ukraine (part of European route E58) from the Russo-Ukrainian border via Mariupol until Melitopol, and from there the existing Highway M18 of Ukraine (part of European route E105) to Simferopol. At the Russo-Ukrainian border, Highway M14 connects with Russian federal highway R-280 (or R280) via Taganrog to Rostov-on-Don. The pair of two highway stretches was dubbed the "Novorossiya highway" by Russia in the mid-2020s, and formally added to the existing R-280, a move rejected by Ukraine.

A similar situation exists for the Russian-designated highway R-150, which is a connected combination of stretches of Highway H20 of Ukraine from Mariupol to Donetsk city, Highway M04 of Ukraine between Donetsk and Luhansk city, and Highway H21 of Ukraine from Luhansk city via Starobilsk to the Russo-Ukrainian border.

On 9 June 2026, commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi of the 414th Unmanned Strike Aviation Brigade ("Birds of Madyar") reported that because of the middle strike campaign, Russian military cargo traffic along the highway of death had fallen by 71% during the previous two weeks. This soon resulted in severe fuel shortages, as well as food and goods shortages, in Crimea and other occupied regions in southeastern Ukraine.