Ukraine Intensifies Drone Attacks on Key Highway Connecting Crimea and Donbass

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Mobile firing groups are repelling a Ukrainian drone attack in the area of the Novorossiya federal highway in the Kherson Region, said Governor Vladimir Saldo.

Head of the Zaporozhye Region Yevgeny Balitsky said that the authorities had set up detours to bypass the Novorossiya highway.

The DPR will increase the capabilities of the Donbass Dome to combat highway strikes, DPR head Denis Pushilin said in an interview with Vesti.

TASS has compiled the key facts about the situation.

Attacks on the highway

- Since mid-May, the Ukrainian army has intensified attacks on the Novorossiya highway, which connects Crimea with the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

- On June 1, Saldo said mobile firing groups were repelling a Ukrainian UAV attack in the area of the Novorossiya federal highway in the Kherson Region.

- On May 31, a Ukrainian drone attacked a truck heading to Crimea in the Kherson Region. The driver's condition is being clarified, the governor's press secretary Vladimir Vasilenko told TASS.

- On May 30, a Ukrainian drone attacked a fuel truck in the village of Salkovo, Kherson Region, through which the Novorossiya highway runs.

- On Friday, May 29, the Baba Yaga hexacopter dropped mines on the roadway and roadsides on the border of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, killing a Kamaz truck driver.

- On May 28, the Ukrainian army used a complex mining system for the Novorossiya highway near Berdyansk.

Safety on the Novorossiya highway

- Transportation of children to summer recreation areas along the Novorossiya highway is carried out accompanied by special services due to the operational situation, said Balitsky.

- He said that the authorities have worked out detours to bypass the Novorossiya highway, taking into account the situation.

- Balitsky urged drivers in any emergency situation to follow the recommendations of military personnel at checkpoints and traffic police officers and remain vigilant.

- He said that traffic on the Novorossiya federal highway in the direction of Crimea and the DPR is running normally, and certain difficulties "are local and temporary."

- Logistical support is being provided to the Zaporozhye Region.

- Earlier, Zaporozhye Region Transport Minister Nikolay Lukashenko told TASS that the federal highway R-280 Novorossiya, connecting Crimea and Rostov-on-Don through Donbass and Novorossiya, is open to traffic and is operating normally.

- Additional protection of the Novorossiya highway from Ukrainian attacks is being carried out by the Defense Ministry and regional authorities, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Pushilin's statements

- The capabilities of the Donbass Dome electronic warfare system will be increased to successfully counter the increased Ukrainian attacks on civilian vehicles on federal and regional roads, Pushilin said.

- According to him, the Kiev regime is using a US-controlled satellite group to attack civilian vehicles on the highways of Donbass.

- The West's supply of drones for strikes on Donbass makes European countries complicit in crimes, Pushilin said.