Reuters reported Ukrainian aerial drones struck a Russian oil platform in the Caspian Sea on 11 December 2025, in what an official from Ukraine’s Security Service described as Kyiv’s first such attack in that basin. The official said production at the Lukoil-owned facility stopped.

According to the official, the Filanovsky rig—part of Russia’s largest Caspian oil field—sustained at least four drone hits. As a result, extraction was suspended at more than 20 oil and gas wells served by the platform.

The same official said the Filanovsky field was discovered in 2005, inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2016, and produces about 120,000 barrels per day.

According to Reuters Lukoil had not replied to a request for comment on the reported strike at the time of reporting. The launch point was not disclosed; the Caspian Sea lies more than 700 km from Ukraine’s nearest border.

Kyiv has carried out repeated drone strikes on Russian oil facilities this year, with refineries in the European part of Russia a frequent focus. The campaign expanded last month to include unregulated tankers moving Russian oil through the Black Sea, with three such vessels hit by Ukrainian sea drones in the previous two weeks, the official said.

At least seven blasts have hit other tankers that called at Russian ports since December 2024, including in the Mediterranean, and Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied any role in those incidents. Russia has accused Ukraine of piracy and has threatened to retaliate by cutting off Ukraine’s maritime access in response to tanker attacks.

Source: Reuters