Vladimir Putin has learned the hard way that nowhere in Russia is safe from Ukrainian attacks—not even the depths of Siberia.
Ukraine has waged a summer blitz on Russia, with strikes devastating energy, commerce, and transport logistics sometimes thousands of miles east of the border.
Kyiv’s special forces now say they have struck two facilities in the Yamalo-Nenets region of Siberia, one in its largest city, Novy Urengoy, and the other in the Purovsky district. At 1,800 miles from the border, it is thought to be the deepest strike inside Russia so far in the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the mission, which coincided with several strikes elsewhere in Russia.
“Over the past day, our warriors struck eight Russian infrastructure facilities that support the war effort,” he boasted on Telegram. “An oil refinery in the Yamalo-Nenets region and a seaport in Dagestan were hit.
“Targets in the Moscow, Voronezh, Astrakhan, and Bryansk regions were also struck. Russia continues its daily terror against Ukraine, and every day it receives a just response. I thank every warrior and everyone who ensures our long-range strike capabilities and precision.”
“For the first time! Deepest strike of the war: Ukrainian SOF hit critical russian plants more than 3,000 km away. Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces carried out the deepest strike inside Russia since the beginning of the full-scale war,” Ukraine’s special forces said on Telegram following the attack.
“Until today, this area was considered completely safe territory for the aggressor,” it added.
“FP-1 drones just smashed a range record, striking over 3,200km [2,000 miles] deep,” deep strike drone manufacturing startup Fire Point wrote on X. “Direct hits confirmed inside the facility. Damage assessment is under way.”
In a statement on Telegram, Yamalo-Nenets governor Dmitry Artyukhov said that the strike had caused a fire in Novy Urengoy but that “There are no fatalities or injuries,” and that “The extent and nature of the damage are being assessed.”
He didn’t specify which facility was struck.
Yamalo-Nenets is part of the West Siberian Petroleum basin, the world’s largest hydrocarbon basin, and Russia’s largest oil and gas-producing region. Independent Russian outlet Agentstvo says it is responsible for around 80 percent of the country’s gas output.
The Novy Urengoy condensate treatment plant was the intended target of the attack, according to The Telegraph, adding that it has a capacity for 21.5 million tons of raw material a year.
Russia has been brutalized by Ukraine’s blitz, which has seen thousands of drones and missiles pour over the border through the summer, striking almost every fuel-producing facility within range.
It has hampered the country’s production capacity to such an extent that it has had to start outsourcing some of its oil refining.
It has also contributed to a summer fuel crisis that saw everyday Russians having to join huge lines to fill up on gas.
