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Updated on: July 9, 2026 / 12:38 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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KYIV, Ukraine — In early March, an American-made reconnaissance aircraft glided above Ukraine's choppy Black Sea waters, scanning for Russian targets below. As it approached a gas field just off Ukraine's southern coast, operators monitoring the feed saw what appeared to be Russian soldiers and military equipment on top of an oil rig. Calling in a fleet of sea drones, Ukraine's navy began firing on the rig. When a nearby Russian Ka-27 helicopter landed to evacuate personnel and equipment, a Ukrainian aerial drone swooped down, exploding on contact with the aircraft. The engagement cost Russia over $1.5 million in military equipment, and according to Ukraine's navy, destroyed a key Russian platform for strikes into neighboring Ukrainian regions. It was one early example of a more aggressive Ukrainian strategy to use longer-range strike drones to deplete Russia's resources.
