Ukraine’s military has demolished two bridges within Russia’s Belgorod region in a move that showcased the growing potency of inexpensive first-person-view (FPV) drones on the modern battlefield. On July 26, the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade carried out two strikes to destroy stashes of mines and ammunition reportedly hidden beneath the bridges near Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. According to Ukrainian officials, the bridges served as key supply routes for Russian forces operating along the frontline. In fact, the Russian military had mined the structures in preparation to blow them up themselves in the event of an unexpected Ukrainian attack.

The Ukrainian military taking the fight into Russian territory is reminiscent of tactics it used earlier in the war. During the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine destroyed a number of bridges heading towards Kyiv in an attempt to slow Moscow’s advance and buy time to prepare the capital’s defenses. Now, a Ukrainian unit has seemingly struck back in the same manner.

The 58th Brigade became aware of a mystery near one of the bridges. “It became clear that something was going on there,” a unit representative told CNN. While standard reconnaissance drones could not fly underneath the structure without losing signal, the brigade was able to repurpose an FPV drone with fiber optics to carry out the mission.

A large cache of anti-tank mines and ammunition were allegedly found concealed under the bridge. “We saw the mines, and we struck,” the 58th Brigade’s representative said. A video released by the unit shows the drone approaching the bridge, identifying the hidden munitions, before detonating in an enormous explosion. A second camera placed nearby captured the blast from a distance.

CNN geolocated the bridge to Russia’s Belgorod region just across the border from Kharkiv. The unit then targeted another nearby bridge after suspecting it too was mined, ultimately unleashing a second drone before causing another powerful explosion. “(We) saw an opportunity and took it,” the 58th Brigade said in a statement.

The attacks were notable not only for their audacity but also for the price tag. The drones used for the strikes reportedly cost between 25,000 and 30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias each, or approximately $600–$725.

Ordinarily, blowing up bridges at that distance would require the use of expensive guided missiles or precision bombs. Ukraine, for instance, has targeted critical infrastructure inside Russia’s Kursk region with U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. Each HIMARS launcher system costs millions of dollars, while the rockets themselves run into tens of thousands each. By comparison, the Belgorod attacks were conducted with drones costing less than a modern smartphone.

Cheap, FPV drones have been found to have a growing impact on the battlefield and offer Kyiv a way to attack inside Russian territory without depleting valuable Western-supplied munitions. This is not the first time Kyiv has turned to FPV drones for an asymmetric advantage. In June, Ukrainian forces used small drones smuggled near Russian military airfields to cause dozens of losses or damage to Russian aircraft.

“These types of operations show how even modest technology can achieve outsized results when used creatively,” said military analyst Mykola Bielieskov, adding that drones give Kyiv an affordable way to level the playing field against Russia’s bigger arsenal.

The attack on the Belgorod bridges, reported on July 27, also came as Ukraine has struggled to contain multiple challenges along the frontlines. Russian forces have been grinding forward across eastern Ukraine, while Moscow has also ratcheted up its near-daily missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.

President Vladimir Putin has also given no indication of any talks to end the war, instead of allowing his generals to press on with the offensive. Amid this array of troubles for Kyiv, the bridge strikes provided a moment of positive news from the frontlines.

Russia has yet to officially comment on the attacks, but losing the bridges will surely make Moscow’s logistics in the Belgorod region more difficult, as they were used by Russian forces to supply troops near the Ukrainian border. For Ukraine’s military, the Belgorod bridge strikes are another sign of the war’s broader truth: innovation is key to its survival. Western supplies are often limited, and Russian forces possess numerical superiority in the conflict. As such, Kyiv has been forced to improvise using whatever it can to create an edge.

FPV drones, often made from commercial off-the-shelf parts and modified by volunteers, have thus become one of Ukraine’s most effective weapons. “The value of these drones cannot be overstated,” the 58th Brigade representative said. “They allow us to achieve results that would otherwise require weapons we don’t have.”

With the war grinding on, Ukraine’s capacity to adapt and strike with creativity and ingenuity inside Russian territory could be decisive in negating Moscow’s battlefield advantages. For now, two destroyed bridges in Belgorod region stand as a reminder that even small, inexpensive weapons can have strategic consequences.