In July 2026, the USF conducted two parallel campaigns to isolate occupied Crimea: maritime ("MoLOChKa", jointly with the Ukrainian Navy) and energy ("Crimea Circuit-Breaker Off"). Detailed breakdown of operation "MoLOChKa" — on operation's dedicated page.
The operation started on July 6, 2026 in the Sea of Azov with a strike on two russian "shadow fleet" tankers on the Taganrog–occupied Crimea route; that same night the Kerch refinery and two S-400 SAM systems were hit. From July 15 (Day of Ukrainian Statehood) USF officially expanded the campaign to the Black Sea, hitting 20 vessels that day. The campaign continued throughout August: 218 vessels (08.08) → 228 (16.08) → 242 (22.08, 134 in the Sea of Azov + 108 in the Black Sea) → 260 at the end of August (01.09.2026, +54 vessels for the month). On August 8 the Kerch Strait was blocked "until further notice" from 10.07.2026 — as of 08.08.2026 that is 30 consecutive days; 08.08.2026 the USF Commander stated that the operation "will continue even after the promised 221". Sources: lb.ua · Kyiv Independent · lb.ua (30.07) · TG 2715 · 2739 · 2754 · 2782
In parallel, the USF conducted a campaign against the energy infrastructure feeding occupied Crimea: the cumulative tally of struck targets grew throughout August — 187 (03.08) → 201 (05.08) → 211 (07.08) → 240 (13–14.08) → 243 (16.08, day 45 of the operation) → 267 (22.08) → 315 (28.08) → 349 at the end of August (01.09.2026, +606 nodes for the month). On 28.08.2026 a new "branch" was opened — the "East-Voyo" geographic direction in Luhansk region (first targets — Luhansk TPP "Shchastia" and SS "Alchevska"); the Commander framed this as a symmetrical response to RF energy terror: "winter will be early and dark. In Crimea too". Substations 330/220/110 kV in Kerch, Feodosia, Yevpatoria and the "Kuban-Crimea" node remain among the campaign's targets.
Sources: TG 2694, 2702, 2711, 2733, 2739, 2754, 2770, 2782
As of 19 July, through joint actions of the USF and SBU, the throughput capacity of the Kerch ferry crossing was reduced by 75%: 2 ferries destroyed completely, 2 more lost self-propulsion and are used as barges. In response, according to the USF Commander's statement, RF redeployed up to 200 crews of the "Rubicon" drone unit from the front line to protect the shadow fleet (one crew per vessel), as well as units of the 51st Air Defense Division and an anti-aircraft missile regiment of the Black Sea Fleet. Throughout the campaign, the USF regularly reported striking enemy air defense systems (S-400, Tor, Pantsir) along the coast.
Sources: wz.lviv.ua · censor.net · Kyiv Independent
From the beginning of July 2026, the Unmanned Systems Forces, according to statements by the USF Commander, are conducting a coordinated multi-domain campaign to isolate occupied Crimea — simultaneously targeting energy, fuel supply and logistics. Below are publicly declared results with reference to the primary source.
According to official statements, during 01–08 July, struck were 44 energy nodes of Crimea and the southern part of temporarily occupied territories. 8 July — a key power reception point of the "Kuban–Crimea" energy bridge (transition point PP-2 "Crimea", four underwater cable lines). The occupation administration acknowledged blackouts in the cities of the Southern Coast of Crimea and Simferopol.
Sources: TG 2557 · 2561 · 2568 · 2574
Within 72 hours (6–8 July), according to USF statements, struck were 21 vessels: 19 tankers of RF "shadow fleet", 1 dry cargo ship and 1 ferry in the Kerch and Sea of Azov area — with the aim of cutting off fuel supply to occupied Crimea. The pilots of "Kairos" 414th Brigade "Madyar's Birds", 413th Regiment "Raid" and 1st USF Operational Center operated.
Sources: TG 2562 · 2566 · 2573
The land supply corridor to Crimea was declared by occupation forces an object of systematic strikes; according to statements, during the week cargo transport (trucks) carrying military materials and fuel was struck.
Source: TG 2571
In parallel with the energy and naval campaigns, the USF is conducting a campaign of systematic elimination of Russian air defense — "Air Defense Fall": at the end of August (01.09.2026) — 33 air defense elements for the month, 263 from the start of "air defense hunting-2026" (for comparison: 32 in June, 35 in July; cumulative at the end of June — 195). The campaign logic was stated directly by the Commander: de-energizing stationary radars and air defense elements through strikes on energy nodes ("Crimean switch off") opens the way for further strikes of "Air Defense Fall" — a tactical link between the two campaigns.
August episodes: on the night of 9 August, an S-400 "Triumph" SAM position near Gelendzhik was struck (burned for three hours), as well as "Tor", "Pantsir-S1" and "Podlyot-K1"/"Kasta 2E2" radars — in response to RF missile launches the day before. 23 August, for State Flag Day, 14 targets were declared at Vityazevo airfield and in Crimea — including a Su-33 carrier-based fighter, MiG-29 and "Orion" reconnaissance-strike UAV, plus 8 radars and an S-400 battalion. 24 August — the second MiG-29 of the campaign (Millerovo airfield) and 4 radars. 30 August — five air defense elements at Yeysk and Millerovo airfields ("Pantsir-S1", "Sopka-2", "Kasta 2E2", DRL-27 module of RSP-27 landing system, "Nebo-SV").
Sources: TG 2718, 2755, 2760, 2777, 2782 · The Kyiv Independent · ArmiyaInform · Defense Express, 24.08.2026
August summary (per the USF Commander's summary post of 01.09.2026): 58,465 unique targets (average 1,886 per day, +8.7% from July's 53,755) and 11,010 russian personnel casualties and KIA (355 per day, −5% from July); since January 2026 growth of +210% in targets and +17.3% in manpower. Per the "Pidrakhuyka" scoreboard as of 10.09.2026: 22,647 targets destroyed completely, 254,236 combat sorties (144,326 strike + 109,910 reconnaissance). All figures are the official count of the USF Commander for August 2026.
Sources: TG 2782 · usf_army 2396 · sbs-group.army, snapshot 10.09.2026
The first recorded strike on oil refining infrastructure facilities under Brovdi's command as USF Commander.
Overall in August 2025, 24.2% of RF oil refining capacity was taken out of operation. Estimated monthly losses: ~$3 billion.
Strike on the oil pipeline infrastructure in the area of Unecha, Bryansk region. After this, Hungary temporarily stopped receiving Russian oil, and later imposed sanctions against Brovdi.
88 facilities struck, including:
Strategy: sequential strikes on terminals to create a logistical "bottleneck" in oil exports.
Baltic direction:
Black Sea direction:
Results:
Frigate hit in the port of Novorossiysk.
30 July – 2 August: "Taman" oil-loading terminal (12 tanks of 5 thousand tons each, fire over 17,000 m²) and four refineries — Perm, Volgograd, Saratov, Ufa.
According to posts on the official @usf_army channel, throughout August strikes were claimed on 10 unique refineries and petrochemical complexes in 12 episodes: Saratov Refinery (02.08), "Bashneft-Novoyil" Ufa and "Slavneft-YANOS" Yaroslavl (06.08, the latter again on 28.08), "TANECO" Nizhnekamsk (10.08, again 20.08), "Orsknefteorgsintez" (11.08), "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (13.08, claimed ≈1,300 km), "Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez" (21.08, claimed over 1,500 km, same night — "Marinovka" airfield), Novokuybyshevsk Refinery (22.08, ≈1,000 km), "Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez" Kstovo (26.08, ≈800 km), Kirishi Refinery (30.08, over 800 km).
Sources: TG 2690 · t.me/usf_army/2279, 2293, 2294, 2311, 2314, 2319, 2341, 2344, 2355, 2372, 2387, 2393
579 enemy personnel hit in a day.
900+ enemy personnel hit on the Rodynske–Huliaipole section (~100 km of front).
January–April 2026:
A strike on a refinery or port is not reduced to "an explosion". The economic function is broader:
downtime + repair + rerouting + insurance + export delay + fiscal loss + air-defense diversion
Why oil infrastructure has high ROI:
This means oil infrastructure is both fiscal bloodstream and logistical dependency. Every port or refinery works as both an export channel and fuel for the war itself.
According to Reuters and OSW chronology, beyond the previously documented Lukoil-Volgograd (14.08.2025), Druzhba-Unecha (22.08.2025) and Yaroslavl (May 2026):
KSE Institute in its report "Drone Strike Impact Assessment" (April 2026) estimated:
This is not Madyar's estimate — this is an independent third-party quantification based on tanker traffic and export flows.
Madyar publicly estimated that within the potential strike zone lies a strategic-scale export oil flow — around 100 million tons of oil per year. Depending on world price:
In other words, things of strategic scale — tens of billions of dollars per year in export flow, potentially closer to $100 billion under high-price conditions. The "$100 billion" figure should be read as an upper-bound estimate, not as stable actual revenue.
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Two independent indicators of changing war dynamics:
The Guardian (May 2026): in April 2026 Russia had its first net territorial loss since August 2024 — approximately 45 square miles. Over the previous 12 months it was still capturing territory overall, but the pace is exhausted.
This does not mean that Madyar's drones stopped the front by themselves. But the drone system is one of the main factors in slowing the pace of Russian offensive, complicating logistics and attrition in personnel and equipment.
The Guardian: for the first time in nearly 20 years the Victory parade had no tanks or missiles; fear of Ukrainian strike was cited as the reason.
The signal has several layers:
According to USF Commander statement (07.08.2026), cumulative balance of enemy manpower reinforcement and losses for December 2025 – July 2026 is 245 139 "arrived" vs. 253 438 "departed" — that is −8,299 in favor of Defense Forces; balance was negative for the enemy in six of eight months (exception — May and June 2026). The Commander himself called it "a squirrel running in a wheel" — a sign of war of attrition, not rapid collapse (source: TG 2710, 07.08.2026). According to Janis Kluge (Meduza), RF is recruiting about 30,000 contractors per month.
Carnegie Endowment notes: the key is not "gross" losses, but irrecoverable losses, which actually pull people out of the combat cycle. IISS (via Guardian, February 2026): RF, despite pressure, is likely capable of sustaining invasion through 2026, though recruit quality is declining.
Honest formula: Madyar's drone war creates powerful attrition pressure, but one should not predict rapid military collapse of RF. More precisely: Russia can still fight, but each month it becomes more expensive, bloodier and less effective.
Enemy personnel:
Combat sorties:
Targets hit/destroyed (286,000+ / 101,000+):
Periods:
Combat operations on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Start: 26 December 2024
City defense system deployed against enemy drones.
Start: 10 November 2024
Front line strip near occupied Vuhledar.
Period: 3 October 2023 – 31 July 2024
Unit: RUBAK "Madyar's Birds", Naval Infantry Command of Armed Forces of Ukraine
Results (October 2023 – January 2024):
RER/EW project (10 months):
Remote mining:
Period: 28 May – 17 July 2024
Mission: Reinforcement of Vovchansk grouping and 13th "Khartia" Brigade on Lyptsi direction
Period: July 21, 2024 – April 11, 2026 (data by direction; operation continues without fixed completion date)
Unit: 414th Separate USF Brigade "Madyar's Birds"
Results:
Deployed "Kupol Pokrovsk" system to protect the city from enemy drones.
Period: June 13 – September 30, 2023 (110 days)
Unit: UAV battalion "Madyar's Birds", OTU "Donetsk"
Missions in support of 37th, 35th, 38th, 36th Separate Marine Brigades:
Results:
Liberation of settlements Urozhaine and Staromaiorske.
Period: March 5 – June 11, 2023
Unit: UAV battalion "Madyar's Birds" of 59th Separate Marine Brigade
Areas: Pervomaiske, Avdiivka, Staromykhailivka/Krasnohorivka, Marinka
Mission:
Period: November 2022 — March 2023
Unit: "Madyar's Birds" of 251st Separate TDF Brigade, OSUV "Khortytsia"
Duration of participation: 110 days
Settlements:
Bakhmut, Soledar, Blahodatne, Krasna Hora, Paraskoviivka, Berkhivka, Opytne, Klishchiivka, Kurdiumivka, Ozarianivka
Mission:
The Battle of Bakhmut became a testing ground for developing mass drone employment tactics.
Period: April–August 2022
Unit: 1st platoon, 2nd company, 206th TDF Battalion, subordinate to 28th Mechanized Brigade
The unit began engaging in the unmanned component, conducting reconnaissance of the line of contact. It was here that the concept of "Madyar's Birds" was born.
In August 2022, the first FPV drone was assembled and a crew training group was formed at a base near Ruska Kosa (7–10 km from the line of contact).
Period: March–April 2022
Unit: 206th Battalion, 241st Territorial Defense Forces Brigade
Robert Brovdi's first combat experience was gained during the Russian offensive on Kyiv — one of the decisive operations of the initial period of the war.
Tasks and participation:
The defense of Kyiv ended with the retreat of Russian forces in early April 2022.