The strikes marked the combat debut of the Behemoth drone, which was presented in late May 2026 by the companies GLEFA and Culver Aerospace.
Behemoth is designed to hit targets at close and medium ranges, featuring an operational radius of up to 300 km. These factors, alongside its aerodynamic appearance, draw comparisons to the Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fielded in 2022 and later modernized.
The drone's nose section houses a 40 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead, immediately followed by a 35 kg thermobaric warhead, Militarnyi noted. The thermobaric component destroys targets via a massive blast that generates an intense incendiary fireball.
The deployment time for the drone is just five to seven minutes, and it is launched using a rocket booster. Each unit costs between $35,000 and $50,000.
- Length: 2.2 m
- Wingspan: 2.8 m
- Height: 0.5 m
Its ability to fly at low altitudes significantly complicates detection and interception by enemy air defense systems, according to the Defender Media portal.
The UAV utilizes Starlink communications and supports three control modes: automatic, semi-automatic, and manual.
The developers have also created a variant called the Behemoth Deepstrike, designed for operations deep within the enemy's tactical rear, though additional technical specifications for this modification have not yet been made public.
Strikes on the Chonhar Bridge
The first attack on the bridge, which carries the R-280 highway connecting Rostov-on-Don to Crimea through occupied territories of Donetsk Oblast, took place overnight on June 7. The strike was carried out by units from the Phalanx Multi-Domain Operations Center of the 1st Separate Assault Regiment and the Code 9.2 unit of the 475th Separate Assault Regiment.
Overnight on June 9, the Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a follow-up strike on the Chonhar Bridge. The Ukrainian military specified that the strategic crossing was targeted twice using specialized equipment from Fire Point and long-range Behemoth UAVs.
Satellite imagery showed the bridge sustained severe damage, and all traffic has been halted. Russian military bloggers reported that repairing the crossing could take up to a month.