KYIV, July 7 — Against this backdrop of a grinding war of attrition, the Ukrainian campaign of drone strikes on Russian territory has become a persistent and strategically significant feature of the conflict, one that has evolved markedly since the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022. The early phase of this campaign focused on military assets deep inside Russia. In December 2022, Ukrainian drones struck the Engels-2 air base in Saratov Oblast, a facility that houses strategic bombers.
That strike signaled a new reach for Kyiv’s forces, a warning that even the most distant Russian military installations were not beyond their grasp. By 2023, the targeting had broadened.
Attacks increasingly hit oil depots and critical infrastructure in border regions such as Belgorod and Bryansk. These oblasts, which serve as staging grounds for Russian logistics and troop movements into northeastern Ukraine, became regular targets. The strikes were not merely symbolic; they aimed to disrupt the flow of fuel and supplies to Russian front-line units, a direct assault on the logistical backbone of the invasion.
The current phase of the campaign is defined by its audacity and range. The deepest penetration recorded to date occurred on February 24, 2024, when a Ukrainian drone struck a target in Omsk.
The distance of over 2,500 kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory made this a landmark operation, demonstrating a leap in drone technology and operational planning that few had anticipated. It was, in the corridors of military analysis, a clear message that no part of the Russian Federation can be considered a safe haven. Other notable strikes in early 2024 have underscored this widening scope.
In January, the Tuapse oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai was hit, a facility vital to Russia’s domestic fuel supply and export capacity. That same month, the Ust-Luga gas terminal in Leningrad Oblast, a major hub for liquefied natural gas exports, also came under attack. These operations, targeting energy infrastructure far from the front lines, are designed to impose economic costs and complicate Russia’s ability to sustain its war machine.
What is at stake for Moscow is the integrity of its own rear areas. The Kremlin has responded by enhancing air defenses around key facilities, deploying additional electronic warfare systems, and scrambling to protect critical nodes from the Baltic to Siberia.
Yet the attacks continue, a testament to Ukraine’s investment in long-range drone capabilities and a tactical adaptation that has forced Russia to divert resources from the front to protect its homeland. The wider picture is one of a conflict that has no sanctuary. The drone campaign, from the early strikes on Engels-2 to the recent operations in Omsk and Tuapse, represents a deliberate strategy to erode Russia’s logistical depth and challenge its narrative of invulnerability.
As long as the war continues, the skies over Russian oil depots, air bases, and energy terminals will remain contested, a front line that exists not in the muddy fields of Donbas, but in the airspace above the Russian heartland.
