Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukrainian forces specializing in the use of drones, said Kiev’s unmanned aerial vehicles hit a large oil refinery in Ryazan. The plant had already been targeted several times: the last confirmed attack dates back to last December. A residential condominium would also have been hit in the attack, resulting in at least 4 victims.
For months, Ukraine has intensified operations against targets deep in Russian territory, particularly refineries, warehouses and oil pipelines, with the aim of weakening Moscow’s energy and logistics capacity. The attack comes after a week of heavy Russian bombing of Ukraine. In Kiev, a raid on an apartment building left 24 dead, including three children, according to Ukrainian authorities. President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and called for new international pressure on Moscow.
While diplomacy struggles, drones continue to fly hundreds of kilometers from the border. Hitting Ryazan means demonstrating that no target in Russia is truly safe. Ukraine has intensified this “air warfare” against warehouses, pipelines and energy facilities to wear down Moscow’s resistance from within, turning Russia’s energy infrastructure into the Kremlin’s Achilles’ heel.