Ukraine recently launched one of its most extensive drone offensives against Russia, targeting a refinery and a power station deep within Russian territory, as seen in videos shared on social media and verified by CNN through geolocation.
The brief clips depict smoke rising from sites in Moscow and the neighbouring Tver region.
Acknowledging the scale of the Ukrainian offensive, Russia’s Defense Ministry minimized its impact, claiming on Sunday that 158 Ukrainian UAVs were “destroyed and intercepted by on-duty air defense” across 15 regions, including Moscow.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that two drones were downed near the Moscow Oil Refinery.
Although no injuries were reported, the second drone caused damage to a technical building at the refinery, sparking a fire that, according to the mayor, was quickly contained and did not disrupt the plant’s operations.
The Governor of the Tver region, Igor Rudenya, stated on social media that a fire ignited by the drone strike in the Konakovo district had been extinguished and that gas and electricity services in the area remained operational.
These drone attacks by Ukraine follow others from the previous week, including one on Thursday that ignited oil reservoirs at a refinery in Russia’s Rostov region, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Footage from social media showed thick black smoke rising from the Atlas oil depot in Rostov after the strike.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky defended the recent drone strikes deep within Russia, arguing they were justified in light of Moscow’s ongoing assaults on Ukraine.
“Just in the past week, Russia has launched over 160 missiles of various types, 780 guided aerial bombs, and 400 strike UAVs of different kinds against our people,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
On Sunday, a Russian attack on civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, left at least 41 people injured, according to local authorities.
“Russia is once again terrorizing Kharkiv, striking civilian infrastructure and the city itself,” Zelensky said on X, urging allies to “give Ukraine everything it needs to defend itself.”
“It is entirely justified for Ukrainians to respond to Russian terror by any means necessary to stop it,” Zelensky stated, repeating his call for Western nations to remove restrictions on the use of long-range weapons, which currently prevent them from hitting targets inside Russia.
“This includes decisions to carry out long-range strikes on Russia’s missile launch sites, destroy Russian military logistics, and conduct joint efforts to shoot down missiles and drones – everything that will help us resist Russian evil,” Zelensky added.
Russia has consistently targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missile and drone attacks since its invasion.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov informed CNN last week that he had presented the Biden administration with a list of targets inside Russia that Kyiv wishes to strike using US-provided long-range weapons, including the Army Tactical Missile Systems.
ATACMS, fired from mobile launchers, can reach up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) and carry single high-explosive warheads or up to 900 submunitions, according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against the Russian terror that Russians are causing us, so I hope we were heard,” Umerov told CNN’s Alex Marquardt.
However, a US official indicated that many of Ukraine’s high-value targets in Russia are beyond the range of ATACMS. Russia has relocated its critical military assets far from the front lines, including the aircraft responsible for launching glide bombs that have caused significant damage to Ukrainian targets.
Umerov has contested these assessments, asserting that Ukraine provided the US with a list of targets they would use ATACMS to strike.
A recent analysis from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War supports Ukraine’s claim that there are valuable targets within Russia that are within ATACMS range.
ISW identified 233 Russian targets – including large military bases, communications stations, logistics centers, repair facilities, fuel depots, ammunition warehouses, and permanent headquarters – within ATACMS range that are immobile, meaning Russia cannot easily move them out of harm’s way.
ISW further noted that Ukraine would only need to hit some of these targets with ATACMS to significantly impact Russia’s ability to continue its frontline operations.
While urging the US to lift restrictions on ATACMS, Ukraine has been developing new long-range indigenous weapons.
In August, Zelensky revealed that Ukraine had a new jet-powered drone capable of striking deep inside Russia.
He announced that the Palianytsia “missile-drone” had been used in combat for the first time, describing it as faster and more powerful than Ukraine’s existing drone fleet, as reported by Ukrainian state media.
Although Zelensky withheld specific details about the Palianytsia, he praised its “long-range” capabilities, hinting that it might exceed the 1,500-kilometer (932 miles) range of Ukraine’s current drones.
