Putin can recruit all the soldiers he wants — they won't make a difference thanks to Ukraine's new strategy

 Putin needs troops.

The well-known Russian strategy of sending wave after wave of soldiers at the enemy in order to deplete the enemy’s ammunition supplies, while disregarding Moscow’s own casualties, requires immense manpower, and with an estimated 1.4 million casualties in the war so far, Russia simply needs to replenish its ranks.

It sounds like the tactics used by the Soviet Union in WWII, but the use of what Russian soldiers call “meat storms” have been reported during the war in Ukraine as well.

Since the beginning of the year, however, Ukraine says the defenders are eliminating more Russian personnel than the Kremlin can replenish — an assessment echoed by Western intelligence as well as military analysts.

But even the troops that Putin does recruit might not make it to the front line. Not because they are eliminated before they reach the line of contact — no, but because there is no way for the Russians to transport them.

Freezing the roads

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian forces are using a wave of targeted drone strikes to choke off Russian supply lines.

The campaign, which ramped up significantly in the spring of 2026, aims to stop the Kremlin from moving fresh soldiers and equipment to the front lines.

According to recent military field assessments, these aerial attacks have seriously damaged critical transit routes. Among the hardest hit is the M-14 highway, a vital road link connecting Russia directly to occupied Crimea.

But the disruption does not stop there. Supply routes between occupied regions in southern Ukraine and Donetsk City are also under constant fire, leaving Russian troops stranded without food, fuel, or ammunition.

A total lockdown

ISW assesses that the strategy is intentional and expanding. On May 27, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced that the military is officially initiating what he called a “logistics lockdown” against enemy forces.

To keep the pressure high, Ukraine plans to invest more money in its top drone squads. They need better technology immediately. Large-scale commercial competitions are already being launched to find the best equipment.

This massive push has given Ukrainian forces a temporary but powerful edge. In several crucial frontline sectors, their drones simply outperform anything the opposition can deploy right now.

No way forward

The consequences for the Kremlin are severe. Because remote-controlled aircraft constantly monitor the skies, Russian troops cannot easily launch sneak attacks or slip past defensive positions during the night, ISW suggests.

Even Russian sources admit there is a major problem. On May 26, a Kremlin-aligned military blogger complained that Ukrainian drone scouts have completely undermined the infiltration tactics Russia used for months to slowly advance.