Ukraine launched a powerful drone barrage on Moscow on Thursday, causing a major explosion at a key oil refinery. Experts say Kyiv's strategic use of medium-range drones is inflicting significant damage on Russia's war effort as its ground offensive stalls.
Ukraine has scaled up targeting of Russia's critical oil infrastructure, the lifeblood of the Kremlin's wartime economy, to weaken its capacity to continue the war. Ukrainian officials said that by targeting Russian air defences and logistics earlier this year, they disrupted battlefield advances and opened the way for long-range strikes on oil and military facilities.
More resources have been poured into 'middle strikes', typically ranging between 30 km and 180 km behind front lines. This has enabled Ukraine to strike Russian radars, air defences, communications, logistics and large military vehicles at 'operational depth', sources said. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, said the role of middle strikes is decisive.
Defence analysts say such attacks alone cannot turn the tide but are having an important impact. In recent months, Ukrainian long-range drone attacks have caused the most extensive damage to Russian oil infrastructure since the 2022 invasion. Last month, Russia reduced oil output due to drone attacks on ports and refineries, and crude oil supplies via a pipeline to Europe were halted.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in May that the number of Ukrainian middle strikes had doubled compared to March. Field commander 'Kusto' said his unit focused on targets up to 100 km from the front line, including radar installations and air-defence systems like Buk, Tor and Pantsir. Brovdi said his forces have destroyed at least 129 air-defence systems this year in Russian-occupied areas.
Ukrainian attacks have forced the suspension of operations at NORSI, Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery, and in Perm, about 1,500 km from the border. The deep strikes have enabled more mid-range attacks by forcing Russia to disperse air defences away from front lines, said Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute.
