Ukrainian deep strikes halt central Russian refineries and cut national fuel output by about a fifth
Ukraine's long-range drone campaign has forced all major refineries in central Russia to halt or cut production, lowering national fuel output by about 20 percent, with the Yaroslavl refinery struck a record 15th time on Friday. The campaign's peak came overnight on May 16-17, when Ukraine launched the largest single-night drone raid in history -- Russia's defense ministry claimed 1,030 drones downed in six hours, more than 350 over greater Moscow -- hitting a semiconductor plant, an oil pumping station and the Moscow Oil Refinery. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Tuesday that, for the first time in the war, Ukraine is conducting more offensive actions than Russia.
Ukraine's long-range drone campaign has knocked out fuel production across central Russia, with international energy reporting indicating that all major refineries in the region have halted or cut output and that national fuel production has fallen by about 20 percent. The Yaroslavl oil refinery was struck on Friday for the 15th time in the war, a record, and the past week's targets also included the Moscow refinery, the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod and the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant in Stavropol Krai. By Thursday, fuel stations in occupied Crimea had run out of petrol and diesel; Moscow has banned gasoline exports from April through the end of July.
The campaign's peak came overnight on May 16-17, when Ukraine mounted what both its General Staff and Security Service (SBU) described as the largest single-night drone raid in history. Russia's defense ministry claimed 1,030 drones were shot down over roughly six hours, more than 350 of them over greater Moscow. Ukraine said it confirmed 126 hits through drone video and identified three primary targets: the Angstrem semiconductor plant in Zelenograd, which makes microelectronics for precision weapons; the Solnechnogorsk oil pumping station near Durikino; and the Moscow Oil Refinery in the capital's Kapotnya district, where dashcam footage showed reservoirs burning. Authorities said all incoming drones were intercepted, but falling debris and anti-aircraft fire killed three Muscovites, and the city's airports were disrupted for about 36 hours.
Beyond Moscow, Ukrainian drones reached the Caspian naval port of Kaspiysk, hitting a Project 10410 Svetlyak-class FSB patrol boat on May 16-17 and a Project 21980 Grachonok-class anti-sabotage boat the following night, both left burning. Strikes at Yeysk in Krasnodar region on May 17-18 burned a Ka-27 helicopter and a rare Be-200 seaplane.
On Sunday Ukraine's unmanned systems forces released video of a swarm strike on a seaside hotel on the Kerch shore -- a building Ukraine identified as an FSB headquarters operating since 2022 -- in which at least a dozen strike drones hit eight buildings in closely timed waves, with follow-up strikes recorded as people tried to evacuate.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Tuesday that, for the first time in the war, Ukraine's armed forces are carrying out more offensive and counterattack actions than Russian forces. Kyiv has cleared more than 90 billion euros ($105 billion) in defense spending for the next two years.