– Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian “mid-strike” drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots told ​Reuters.

Kyiv’s development of “mid-strike” drones that can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink, has transformed the war ‌in Ukraine.

In a concerted mid-strike campaign this year, Ukraine has attacked supply lines, fuel storage facilities, air-defence installations and command centres, disrupting Russian forces’ logistics and causing fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.

But Russia is now developing many ways to try to counter the mid-range strikes, four drone commanders and pilots told a Reuters crew that visited Ukraine’s 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment at work in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Russia’s methods to protect fuel and other military ​supplies range from hiding shipments in civilian vehicles to using sophisticated electronic jamming devices to block connections used to pilot the drones, they said.

Jamming devices have been installed by ​Russia near towns and military facilities, including some that can disrupt the Starlink systems operated by Musk’s SpaceX, they said.