Russia’s neighbor to the south has demonstrated once again how cheap first-person-view (FPV) drones can be transformed from toys into weapons, with stunning results. On Thursday, Ukrainian troops destroyed two bridges inside Russia’s Belgorod region in a surprise attack. They used the inexpensive drones to investigate the site and make sure it was safe to conduct a strike without endangering Ukrainian forces.

The 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the two bridges were used to store Russian mines and ammunition, according to CNN. The bridges were mined and, in the event of a Ukrainian breakthrough, could be destroyed. Such measures are not uncommon on the battlefield.

For instance, in February 2022, in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv blew up several bridges leading toward the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in an attempt to slow Moscow’s advance and buy time to bolster the city’s defenses. In a sense, Ukrainian forces did the same to Russia earlier this month, using the same strategy against the Russian military.

Weapons Inspectors: FPV Drone Searches Stashes of Russian Ammo Hidden Under Bridges

Ukraine’s 58th Brigade revealed how it carried out the attack and used the drones. “It became clear that something was going on there,” a representative of the Ukrainian brigade told CNN. To try to investigate the situation without risking its reconnaissance drones, the brigade attached a fiber optics sensor to an FPV drone and sent it toward the bridge. That way, the drone’s controller could see everything the camera was seeing and direct its flight.

As it turned out, there was something on the other side: a large cache of mines, anti-tank munitions, and other ammunition were stored under the bridge, according to the 58th Brigade representative.

“We saw the mines, and we struck,” he added.

Pricey Targets: Destroying Bridges Would Usually Require a Bigger Arsenal

The result is a pair of massive explosions, according to video shared by the Ukrainian brigade. In footage released by the unit, the drone approaches the bridge and discovers the ammunition hidden underneath it, at which point it detonates in a powerful blast. A second camera shows the explosion at a distance. CNN geolocated the bridge in Russia’s Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border with the Kharkiv region.

Buoyed by their success, the brigade then checked a second bridge in the area and, not surprisingly, also discovered that it had been mined. They then dispatched a second drone to investigate and, upon confirmation of its findings, triggered another massive explosion. “(We) saw an opportunity and took it,” the 58th Brigade said in a statement.

Destructive Force: On Thursday, Ukraine destroyed two bridges inside Russia’s Belgorod region. Video: 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces via CNN

The entire operation was impressive, particularly in how inexpensive the weapons used to carry it out were. Each drone cost somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, or roughly $600–$725. To put that in perspective, under normal conditions, Ukraine would not be able to destroy the bridges from such a distance without using expensive guided missiles or precision bombs.

To attack targets in Russia’s Kursk region, for example, Ukraine has turned to U.S.-supplied HIMARS systems in the past. A single HIMARS launcher costs millions of dollars, while the individual rockets come in at several tens of thousands of dollars each. In contrast, the drones used in the Belgorod attacks cost less than a new smartphone.

FPV: Cheap Toys Are Weaponized

The bridge-busting operation also showed how first-person-view drones have become a versatile tool for Ukraine to use on the battlefield. The relative cheapness of the drones allows the Ukrainian military to use them to attack targets deep inside Russia without burning through its finite stock of Western-supplied munitions.

Kyiv has used similar tactics to great effect in the past. In June, for example, Ukraine’s military directed small drones smuggled into Russian airspace near military airfields at a number of sites to cause widespread damage or destruction to dozens of Russian aircraft.

“These types of operations show how even modest technology can achieve outsized results when used creatively,” Mykola Bielieskov, a military analyst based in Kyiv, told CNN. “We will keep seeing more of it, not just from the Ukrainian military but from the general public as well.”

A Psychological Lift: Ukraine Has Suffered Weeks of Setbacks on the Battlefield

This is not the first time this year that Ukraine has turned to first-person-view drones to produce maximum effect. These seemingly innocuous toys have been a boon for Kyiv’s military, giving it a capability to strike inside Russian territory despite its disadvantage in heavier weaponry. In this case, Ukraine’s ability to destroy Russian military targets deep inside enemy territory using drones created a much-needed moment of good news amid weeks of setbacks and difficulties for the Ukrainian military.

Moscow and the Kremlin have sent Russian troops grinding forward in eastern Ukraine while also continuing their campaign of near-daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. President Vladimir Putin has even gone so far as to rule out a ceasefire or talks for the time being, saying Moscow will press on with its offensive.

And so, while it remains to be seen how much the loss of the two bridges in Belgorod will affect Moscow’s ability to move munitions to its forces around Kharkiv, for the time being, at least, they have provided Kyiv with a morale-boosting moment. Russia has not yet commented on the attack. Ukraine’s military has said the destruction of the bridges will “complicate logistics” for the Russian military inside the Belgorod region. On Wednesday, a Russian border post was also attacked.

Inside the War Room: Russia Has Largely Disrupted Ukraine’s Reconnaissance Drone Operations

On the Ukrainian side, the Belgorod bridge attack has shown once more how the need for innovation has become part of the country’s military strategy. Given the numerical advantage that Russia’s military has enjoyed for most of the war, Kyiv has had to improvise as it struggled with limited Western supplies, and commercial drones, modified by people with 3D printers and the like, have risen to the occasion.

“Ukraine is limited on the number of missile attacks, and to be honest, even HIMARS rockets cannot solve the problem,” the 58th Brigade representative said. “The value of these drones cannot be overstated. We have nowhere to lose them, and they allow us to achieve results that would otherwise require weapons we don’t have.”

All in all, for Ukraine, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking are key, and this particular case of making first-person-view drones an instrument of war once again makes the point. It may be what Ukraine needs to offset Russia’s battlefield superiority, at least for the time being.