Ukraine Strikes Deep Into Russia and Occupied Territories, Targeting Fuel, Drones, and Command Points

Ukraine’s General Staff has confirmed a coordinated series of strikes over the past week aimed at degrading Russian military logistics and command infrastructure both inside occupied Ukraine and on Russian territory. The operations, carried out between 4 and 8 September, hit a fuel depot, a drone launch site, multiple command posts, and – in a significant escalation – an oil refinery and an airfield deep inside Russia.

Strikes on 4 September

On 4 September, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian fuel depot, a drone launch site, and command posts in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Bryansk, and Crimea regions, according to a report from Ukrainska Pravda. The Ukrainian General Staff said the attacks were part of a campaign to disrupt Russian offensive capabilities ahead of the autumn fighting season. The fuel depot target is believed to be a key supply node for Russian units operating along the eastern front, while the drone launch site had been used to support Shahed-type attack drone operations against Ukrainian infrastructure.

Strikes on 6 September

Two days later, the General Staff reported strikes on the Ryazan oil refinery, an airfield, and air defence assets inside Russia – a notable expansion of the range and ambition of Ukrainian long-range operations. The Ryazan facility, located roughly 200 km southeast of Moscow, processes crude oil for the Russian military. The September 6 strike also targeted an unnamed airfield that hosts aircraft used for glide-bomb attacks against Ukrainian positions, as well as a battery of S-300/S-400 air defence systems. Ukrainian officials stated that the strikes were intended to reduce Russia’s ability to sustain its aerial bombing campaign and to protect Ukrainian strike aircraft operating near the border.

Strikes on 8 September

On 8 September, the General Staff confirmed a further strike against a Russian attack drone launch site and several command posts. The September 8 operation focused on command nodes in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as one inside Crimea. The drone launch site targeted is separate from the one hit on 4 September, suggesting Ukraine is systematically dismantling Russia’s drone-launch capability.

Strategic significance

These strikes represent a sustained, multi-domain effort to weaken Russia’s ability to wage war on its own terms. By hitting fuel depots and refineries, Ukraine is tightening the logistical squeeze on Russian forces – particularly in the east, where resupply lines have already been under constant pressure. Targeting drone launch sites and command posts directly reduces the threat of Shahed attacks on Ukrainian cities and complicates Russian coordination on the battlefield.

The strike on the Ryazan oil refinery is especially significant. It marks one of the deepest Ukrainian penetrations of Russian territory since the war began, and it signals that Kyiv now has the capability – and the political will – to strike critical economic and military infrastructure far beyond the border. Russia’s air defence umbrella, once thought impenetrable, has been repeatedly tested and found porous.

No confirmation of damage or retaliation

As of 8 September, there has been no independent verification of the extent of damage at the Ryazan refinery or the airfield. Russian officials have not publicly commented on the strikes, and local authorities in Ryazan have not reported any emergency incidents. Satellite imagery in the coming days may clarify the outcome. Likewise, there have been no reported retaliatory strikes from Russian forces linked directly to these operations, though Russia continued its routine shelling of Ukrainian front-line positions and settlements.

Ukraine’s General Staff does not typically disclose the types of weapons used in such strikes, but Ukraine has developed a fleet of long-range drones and modified Soviet-era missiles capable of reaching targets hundreds of kilometres inside Russia. The operations come as Kyiv presses its Western partners for permission to use donated longer-range missiles for similar missions.

What it means for the war

For a European audience following the war closely, these strikes demonstrate that Ukraine is able to take the fight to Russian rear areas in a sustained and systematic way. The pattern – fuel, drones, command posts – mirrors the Soviet/Russian military doctrine of “operational interdiction,” but now applied by Ukraine against its larger adversary. If Ukraine can continue to degrade these nodes, it may create opportunities for breakthroughs on the ground, particularly in Donetsk.

But the war remains a grinding attritional conflict. These strikes are not war-winning in themselves. They are, however, a clear signal that Ukraine is adapting faster than Russia to the demands of long-range precision warfare – and that no corner of the battlefield, or the Russian homeland, should be considered safe.