Azov Expands Drone Operations Towards Mariupol

(KYIV) – Pilots from the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov” are conducting reconnaissance and strike drone patrols up to 160 kilometres from the active front line towards occupied Mariupol, according to the unit’s press service.

The corps said roads used by Russian occupation forces in Mariupol and surrounding areas are now being monitored by Ukrainian reconnaissance and strike systems.

According to Azov, Russian forces continue using roads in and around the occupied city to move personnel, equipment and military supplies.

The unit stated that its operations are aimed at creating what it described as a “sanitary zone” for Russian military logistics in occupied territory.

“The depth of the strikes will increase. Azov is already patrolling its native Mariupol. For now, from the sky. But there is more to come,” the corps said in a statement.

Images released by the unit showed aerial surveillance of transport routes leading towards the occupied city.

The announcement follows earlier reports from April in which Azov drone units said they had established fire control over Russian logistics routes near occupied Donetsk and Horlivka.

According to the corps, Ukrainian UAV operations were active around Zuhres, Andriivka, Starobesheve, Horlivka, Lysychansk and the Donetsk ring road.

Azov stated that sustained drone activity across these routes demonstrated weaknesses in Russian airspace monitoring and air defence coverage in occupied areas.

“Active UAV operations on these routes demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the Russian airspace control system,” the corps stated in its earlier report.

The Ukrainian military said Russian occupation troops had previously considered these directions relatively secure for transport and supply movements.

Mariupol, in Donetsk Oblast, remains under Russian occupation following the city’s destruction and capture during the early stages of Moscow’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Video and operational information released by the press service of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov”, operating in occupied areas of Donetsk Oblast, including Mariupol and surrounding logistics routes.