Vladimir Putin has been dealt a double blow.
The Russian president has had the focus of the war flipped back on him and his country over the summer and is now suffering under the pressure of brutal Ukrainian attacks and domestic crises.
Kyiv’s blitz on logistics and energy hubs has grabbed the majority of headlines, but its drones and rockets have also struck military targets, and it was a combination of both of these that gave Putin a headache this week.
Hits on both a military airfield in Rostov-on-Don in the southwest and an oil refinery to the northeast of Moscow in Yaroslavl demonstrate the breadth and depth of Ukraine’s counterpunch capabilities, and the extent of Putin’s woes.
For the 73-year-old, such incidents have become a recurring nightmare, as the so-called “special military operation” engineered to project strength does anything but.
“According to preliminary information, there are no fatalities or injuries. There are impacts on the ground; a fire broke out but was promptly extinguished,” Rostov Governor Yury Slyusar said in a statement on Telegram.
“The fall of the drone debris knocked out power to a transformer substation, disrupting power in the Voroshilovsky, Leninsky, Oktyabrsky, and Kirovsky districts of Rostov,” he added.
He said more than 50 drones were intercepted in cities around the Rostov region overnight.
Russian open-source intelligence outlet Astra reported that the fire had struck the Tsentralny military airfield.
In a similar message, Yaroslavl region governor Mikhail Yevrayev said on Telegram, “An oil refinery has sustained damage. Firefighting operations are underway. Falling debris also shattered windows in several apartment buildings and damaged cars.”
Astra said the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery, which processes approximately 16.5 million tons of oil per year, had caught fire, the Kyiv Post first reported. It is one of the country’s five largest refineries.
It is just the latest to be hit, with strikes across plants nationwide.
The International Energy Agency said in a report seen by Bloomberg last week that the damage is so extensive that Russia’s baseline oil-producing outlook is now expected to be down by 30 percent over the next 18 months.
“It now appears likely that the persistent drone strikes and the patchwork nature of repairs are having a cumulative negative effect and degrading the refining system,” the IEA said.
“Ukrainian forces are using multiple drone waves against single sites, overwhelming protective netting and air defenses,” it added. “The targeting also appears more precise.”
The knock-on effects for the Russian people are already well known, with long lines at gas stations and day-to-day life in many cities overshadowed by looming stacks of acrid smoke.
It comes as Russian attacks going the opposite direction injured 20 people, including two children, in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s capital woke to the sound of around 10 explosions within the space of just a few minutes early Thursday, the Kyiv Post reported.
“The enemy continues to attack the capital. Pay attention to air-raid alerts! Stay safe!” Kyiv Mayor and former boxer Vitali Klitschko said following the attacks.
