Ukraine carried out night-time drone attacks against three Russian oil drilling platforms located in the Caspian Sea, striking installations that, according to Kyiv, help sustain Russia’s military campaign.
Ukraine’s General Staff said the V. Filanovsky, Valery Graifer and Yuri Korchagin platforms all suffered direct strikes during the operation.
The offshore installations are operated by Russian oil company Lukoil and support oil and gas extraction. Ukrainian officials said the level of damage was still being evaluated.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO), which carried out the strikes during a night-time operation on 11 January, said the platforms supply fuel connected to Russian military activities. The SSO published footage showing drones heading for the rigs and then exploding, and Ukrainian forces said these same installations were also attacked on multiple occasions in December.
In addition, Ukraine reported striking a Buk-M3 medium-range air defence missile system in the part of Ukraine’s Luhansk region controlled by Russia. Initial reports indicated several impacts and explosions. Ukrainian forces also said they hit a warehouse and a material and technical support unit of Russia’s 49th Combined Arms Army near Novotroitske in the occupied sector of Kherson region, describing the goal as disrupting Russian logistics.
Over recent months, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, going after refineries, sea terminals, offshore installations and ships that Kyiv describes as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”.
At the same time, Russian officials reported Ukrainian drones operating over the city of Voronezh in southwestern Russia. Local authorities said one person was killed and at least four others were wounded. Regional governor Alexander Gusev said Russian air defence units had downed 17 drones and described the incident as among the most serious drone raids the city has experienced since the invasion started.
The Ukrainian strikes came shortly after Russia carried out a major assault in recent weeks, using hundreds of drones and firing dozens of missiles at targets across Ukraine. Those Russian attacks damaged energy sites and led to extensive electricity and heating disruptions.
Ukrainian energy company DTEK said that in Kyiv, power was cut to tens of thousands of people, while city officials reported that thousands of apartment blocks lost heating as temperatures fell well below freezing.
