Four years after the Azov Regiment surrendered the last defensible position in Mariupol during the city's catastrophic siege in May 2022, the unit has reformed and grown into a larger military corps that is now carrying out targeted drone operations against Russian-occupied infrastructure in and around the port city.
In an operation last week, drones operated by First Corps Azov flew over Mariupol's strategic seaport and struck electrical substations, repair facilities and a sanctioned ship, leaving the port without power, according to Ukrainian military accounts. Video posted by the corps of the strike included footage that was geolocated to parts of the port area.
The attack forms part of a broader and intensifying Ukrainian campaign of strikes aimed at Russian logistics deep behind the front line. The stated objective of those operations is to undermine Moscow's ability to sustain its forces on the battlefield by disrupting transport routes, fuel and repair nodes, and other critical infrastructure.
Col. Arsen Dmytryk, chief of staff of First Corps Azov and a former captive in 2022, said the corps plans to mount dozens more similar operations to publicise the unit's capabilities in technology and planning. Acknowledging that retaking Mariupol is not an immediate prospect, he described it as a long-term effort: "If it takes 20 years, we will spend 20 years planning, waiting, preparing," Dmytryk said, adding, "I believe we will return it (Mariupol). It's just a matter of time." Dmytryk is 32 years old and was among those captured and later released after the city's fall.
The port strike was carried out jointly with Ukraine's drone forces and the SBU security service, and it occurred only a short distance from the ruined Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, where Azov and other Ukrainian units made their final stand in 2022 before surrendering. The operation follows months of strikes on major roadways across Russian-held parts of Donetsk, including routes around Mariupol, as part of a systematic effort to choke off Russian supply chains.
Footage released by the corps shows drone activity across the wider Donetsk region. A video posted on April 16 shows drones flying over open fields and long stretches of highway before closing on large military vehicles. Another post dated May 8 features drone footage sweeping over central Mariupol and the heavily damaged Azovstal complex, accompanied by the corps' commentary that "Azov is already patrolling its home city of Mariupol. From the skies - for now."
Before the war, Mariupol's population exceeded 400,000. Today the city is the focus of reconstruction and new infrastructure projects that, according to Ukrainian foreign intelligence, are part of an effort by Russia to entrench control over occupied southern Ukraine and to develop the seaport as an economic hub. The regional authorities in Russian-held Donetsk have not provided comment for this reporting.
Within the parameters of Ukraine's so-called "middle strike" campaign, the Azov corps has singled out the flow of cargo - fuel in particular - heading from Russia through chokepoints such as Mariupol and Donetsk city. A corps drone officer described the vulnerability of fuel convoys on broad, exposed roads: "There's no way to hide a tanker carrying fuel ... It's just impossible." Routes under repeated attack include the M14 linking Mariupol with Rostov to the east, the H20 running north from Mariupol to Donetsk, and a ring road around Donetsk.
Ukraine's military has also increased strikes on logistics across the Russian-occupied land bridge that connects Russia to Crimea, contributing to fuel shortages on the peninsula. Robert Brovdi, Ukraine's top drone commander, pledged last week to "isolate Crimea in the near future" by intensifying operations against the P-280 highway that serves the occupied peninsula.
Observers and analysts characterise Azov's campaign as cumulative rather than decisive. Franz-Stefan Gady, a defence analyst, said sustained strikes compel Russian forces to fragment vehicle convoys, take longer detours and move more by night, which over time reduces the pace at which Russian units can generate offensive operations. These mid-range attacks force logistical inefficiencies that incrementally degrade Russian capabilities on the front.
Russian forces have been applying pressure elsewhere in Donetsk, closing in on Kostiantynivka, a southern anchor in what Moscow calls its "fortress belt" and which it has demanded Kyiv surrender. Russia has also used drone teams to attack Ukrainian battlefield logistics. Despite these pressures, the overall pace of Russia's advance has slowed in recent months, and Ukrainian units have recaptured territory in certain sectors.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at a U.S.-based think tank, said Kyiv's mid-range strikes may test conditions for future Ukrainian offensives, including potential operations by Azov. "This is one of the big stories of this year: how does Russia deal with Ukraine's middle strike campaign?" he said.
Technological adaptation has been central to Azov's approach. One of the corps' primary strike platforms is the Hornet drone, an AI-assisted system produced by a U.S. defence-technology firm. Corps operators modified Hornets by equipping them with Starlink internet terminals, extending the drone's operational reach beyond its original 100 km range. Rob Lee noted that Azov contributed many of these improvements to the Hornet platform, highlighting the unit's aptitude for technical innovation.
By concentrating drone attacks on the roads that link Mariupol with supply nodes, Azov leaders say they are working toward a strategic aim that goes beyond battlefield attrition. Chief of staff Dmytryk has made the liberation of more than 700 of its fighters currently held in Russian prisons a motivating objective. Kyiv has insisted on broad prisoner exchanges as part of any peace process, and frequent "Free Azov" demonstrations in Kyiv and other cities reflect the unit's stature in Ukrainian public life. Denys Prokopenko, corps commander, wrote last month that securing the release of his comrades is "my personal priority and a matter of honour."
Azov's public image has evolved sharply since its origins as a volunteer nationalist militia and the loose regiment that defended Mariupol in 2014 and again in 2022. Now operating formally under the National Guard, the corps presents itself as one of Ukraine's leading formations, particularly in drone warfare. Olena Kryzhanivska, a defence analyst, described it as "one of Ukraine's most advanced formations" in its use of unmanned systems.
In the past year, the unit says, it expanded into a corps that comprises six brigades, a drone regiment and a special-purposes unit, bringing its total strength to tens of thousands of personnel. Dmytryk reflected on the transformation with a description of Russian intent during his captivity: "When we were in captivity, the Muscovites told us that they wanted to destroy, destroy, destroy us," he said, using his call sign "Lemko." "But somehow their 'destruction' keeps scaling up Azov instead."
The Azov corps' campaign of strikes on occupied logistics and infrastructure - from Mariupol's port and nearby service hubs to arterial highways used by fuel and supply convoys - forms a central element of Ukraine's broader strategy to impose attritional costs on Russia's war effort. Corps leaders and Ukraine's drone commanders say similar operations will continue as part of a protracted effort to weaken Russian supply chains, set conditions for future offensives and press for outcomes that include prisoner exchanges.