More than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has turned long-range drones into one of its most effective weapons — not on the front line, but deep inside Russian territory. In recent weeks, Kyiv has launched a string of record-breaking drone barrages aimed squarely at the infrastructure that funds and fuels Moscow’s war machine.
The Largest Attack Yet
In mid-June 2026, Ukraine carried out its biggest drone offensive of the war against Moscow itself. Russian air defenses reportedly intercepted nearly 200 drones approaching the capital, but several still struck the city’s Gazprom Neft oil refinery, igniting fires that sent black smoke over the skyline for hours. All four of Moscow’s major airports briefly halted operations, and at least 16–17 people were injured. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strike as a “justified response” to a Russian attack on a UNESCO-listed monastery complex in Kyiv days earlier, and called once again for the war to end.
That attack was part of a far broader pattern. Just weeks later, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had shot down 660 Ukrainian drones overnight across more than a dozen regions — one of the largest single-night totals of the war — with strikes reaching Crimea, the Black and Azov Seas, and industrial sites hundreds of kilometers from the front line, including a chemical plant tied to Russian explosives production.
Targeting the Energy Supply Chain
Rather than scattering attacks broadly, Ukraine has increasingly focused on Russia’s oil and energy infrastructure — refineries, terminals, and fuel depots that generate export revenue and supply the military. Strikes on facilities in St. Petersburg, Smolensk, and Tula, among others, have contributed to fuel shortages and rationing in occupied Crimea, where authorities have declared a state of emergency and admitted that no air defense system can fully protect the peninsula.
Analysts say the strategy is deliberate. Ukraine is “demonstrating to the Russians that the cost of this war is only increasing — not just for Putin’s regime but for ordinary Russians,” according to one Russian and Eurasian security expert. Russia’s own inflation and fuel disruptions, along with a rise in small business failures, are being cited as evidence the pressure campaign is having an economic effect, even as the battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine remains difficult for Kyiv.
Escalation on Both Sides
Russia has not been passive in response. Moscow has continued its own massive drone and missile barrages against Ukrainian cities, including attacks that killed dozens of civilians in Kyiv and Dnipro. Zelensky has framed Ukraine’s deep strikes as a 40-day “influence operation” meant to compel Russia back to the negotiating table after a year of stalled diplomacy. The Kremlin, meanwhile, has warned of a “systemic” response and continues to deny direct responsibility for some of the more controversial strikes attributed to it.
With NATO allies watching closely and U.S. diplomatic engagement showing tentative signs of renewal, Ukraine’s drone campaign has become a central front in the war — one fought not in trenches, but in the skies above Russia’s own cities and refineries
