Russian forces are trying to hold a shrinking bridgehead west of the Oskil while deep drone strikes make the rear increasingly dangerous. Chuck Pfarrer explains how persistent surveillance exposes supply routes, why river crossings become predictable choke points, and when holding ground begins consuming more combat power than it provides. Jason Smart follows the command incentives behind those decisions and the growing cost of protecting gains Moscow already claimed as permanent.
Forty miles behind the front, buried tanks were still located and destroyed after troops tried to hide them beneath protective shelters. Moscow is also using glide bombs at enormous scale to keep aircraft farther from Ukrainian defenses. Pfarrer breaks down how concealed equipment gets tracked, where the glide-bomb system remains vulnerable, and why distance no longer guarantees safety. Smart examines what deeper strikes mean for budgets, manpower, industry, and the expanding burden of defending rear areas.
Across the Black Sea, missiles and drones can raise commercial risk without restoring naval control near Odesa. Smart traces that pressure into insurance, freight, exports, and private shipping decisions, while Pfarrer explains what must remain operational for the threat to stay credible. The battlefield keeps widening, and every extra layer of protection demands more money, manpower, and equipment.

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