I've already lived through one war. Now here's another one.
Ukrainian drones struck major refineries 1,500km from the border, including a Lukoil facility near Perm with 13 million metric tonnes annual capacity. Repeated attacks on Tuapse refinery caused fires, toxic air pollution, and three deaths including a 14-year-old; residents evacuated and schools closed.
- Ukrainian drones struck Lukoil refinery near Perm, 1,500km from border, with 13 million metric tonne annual capacity
- Three killed in Tuapse attacks including 14-year-old girl; schools closed, residents ordered indoors
- Nearly 10,000 cubic metres of oil-contaminated soil collected from Tuapse shore and river
Ukraine's military has conducted multiple drone strikes on Russian oil refineries deep inside Russia, including facilities near Perm and Orenburg, as part of a strategy to disrupt Moscow's energy revenues funding the war.
Ukraine's military has begun striking Russian oil refineries with increasing precision, sending drones more than 1,500 kilometres into Russian territory to hit facilities that Moscow depends on to finance its war. The latest targets include a massive Lukoil refinery near the city of Perm and another in the Orenburg region, both far beyond the front lines. According to Ukraine's Security Service, the Perm refinery—capable of processing nearly 13 million metric tonnes of oil annually—took a direct hit to its primary processing unit, effectively disabling a critical component of the facility. A pumping station supplying the refinery was also damaged in the same operation. Hours later, the Ukrainian military's general staff confirmed a strike on the Orsk refinery in Orenburg, triggering a fire that spread across the enterprise.
But the human cost of this energy war is most visible in Tuapse, a coastal town on the Black Sea where Ukraine has conducted three drone strikes in just two weeks. The refinery there, situated directly adjacent to the city centre, has burned repeatedly, sending plumes of black smoke across a town of roughly 60,000 people. Residents have been ordered to remain indoors. Schools have closed. The air has become thick with toxic fumes and the smell of burnt oil, coating cars and pavements with a sticky black film. Officials recorded elevated levels of benzene—a carcinogen found in petrol—in the atmosphere. One pensioner named Yevgenia, pointing at the soot-covered hood of a nearby car, simply said: "Look, look at that." Another resident, who had already lived through Russia's wars in Chechnya decades earlier, reflected on the strange displacement of conflict: "I've already lived through one war. Now here's another one."
Three people have been killed in the Tuapse attacks, including a 14-year-old girl. Around 600 workers have been mobilized in a round-the-clock effort to contain the environmental damage. Nearly 10,000 cubic metres of oil-contaminated soil and water-oil mixture have been collected from the shore and the Tuapse River. The refinery sits close to the road leading to Sochi, the resort city favoured by Russia's elite as a summer retreat.
Ukraine frames these strikes as a direct response to Russia's four-year campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Moscow has systematically attacked power plants and heating systems across Ukrainian cities, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity and warmth during winter months. Kyiv insists it targets only energy and military facilities designed to degrade Russia's capacity to wage war, aiming specifically to reduce the oil revenues that fund the conflict. President Putin has responded by accusing Ukraine of resorting to "overt terrorist methods" and intensifying attacks on civilian infrastructure—a characterization Kyiv rejects.
The strikes reflect a shift in how this war is being fought. As global oil prices have risen amid the Iran conflict and international sanctions on Moscow have loosened, Ukraine has escalated its campaign to disrupt Russia's energy sector. The strategy is straightforward: cripple the refineries, reduce the revenue, constrain the war machine. For residents of Tuapse and other Russian cities near these facilities, the war that seemed distant has arrived at their doorstep, carried on the wind in the form of toxic smoke and the smell of burning oil.
Citações Notáveis
Ukraine said it only targeted energy and military sites designed to hobble Russia's war machine— Kyiv's position on the strikes
President Putin accused Ukrainian authorities of resorting to 'overt terrorist methods' and intensifying drone strikes against civilian infrastructure— Vladimir Putin
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why strike oil refineries specifically? Why not military bases or weapons factories?
Because oil is money. Russia uses energy revenues to pay soldiers, buy ammunition, maintain supply lines. Hit the refineries and you're hitting the war's financial backbone. It's slower than a direct military strike, but it compounds over time.
But these refineries are 1,500 kilometres from the border. How is Ukraine even reaching them?
Drone technology has advanced dramatically. Ukrainian drones can fly that distance, loiter, and strike with precision. It's become a viable strategy where it wasn't before. The deeper you go into Russian territory, the fewer air defences you encounter.
What about the people living near these facilities? The ones breathing toxic air?
That's the moral weight of this. Ukraine says it's targeting infrastructure, not civilians. But when a refinery burns in the middle of a city of 60,000, the distinction becomes academic. People die. Children breathe carcinogens. The environmental cleanup will take months.
Does Russia have a point when it accuses Ukraine of terrorism?
Depends on your definition. Ukraine would say it's targeting military-economic infrastructure that directly enables the occupation of their territory. Russia would say striking civilian areas is terrorism by definition. Both sides have attacked energy systems. The difference is one is defending its territory, the other is invading.
Will these strikes actually change the course of the war?
Not overnight. But if Ukraine can systematically degrade Russia's refining capacity, it reduces Moscow's ability to sustain operations long-term. It's a slow pressure campaign. The question is whether Ukraine can maintain the drone production and operational tempo to make it stick.