Ukrainian drone unit launches long-range strikes on Russian logistics and Crimea
President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that Ukrainian forces could now strike Russian military logistics across occupied territories, noting that fifteen oil refineries had been hit, according to the Kyiv Post and the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian drones subsequently hit supply routes to the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, destroying hundreds of fuel trucks, damaging bridges and rail lines and igniting fires at fuel terminals, which led to severe fuel shortages, long queues and rationing, as reported by the BBC, The New York Times, AP News and the Kyiv Post. The attacks also targeted a bridge in Henichesk, a Pantsir-S air-defence system and several UAV command posts, and later sparked explosions at a fishing port, a railway bridge and air-defence installations on the peninsula, according to Kyiv Post coverage.
Russian-installed authorities responded by limiting petrol sales and imposing rolling power outages, Euronews reported. Ukraine later expanded the drone campaign to logistics corridors deeper inside Russia, striking satellite communication centres near Moscow and oil facilities on the Kerch Strait, while a massive raid hit targets in twelve Russian regions and occupied Crimea, with Russian defenses saying they intercepted 660 drones, as described by Al Jazeera and CBS News. NPR summarized the operation as a secretive unit using Fire Point drones to increase pressure on Moscow.