Ukraine and Russia Escalate Deep-Strike Drone Warfare Campaign
On Friday, Russian officials said Ukrainian drone attacks on a college dormitory in the town of Starobilsk in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian region that Russia almost entirely occupies, killed at least 18 people.
Drone warfare is intensifying sharply on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with each passing week bringing heavier strikes, broader reach and higher casualties.
On Friday, Russian officials said Ukrainian drone attacks on a college dormitory in the town of Starobilsk in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian region that Russia almost entirely occupies, killed at least 18 people.
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Ukraine’s armed forces said the strikes had targeted military sites in the town.
The attack came one week after a Russian ballistic missile tore through an apartment block in Kyiv, killing 24 people, among them three children.
Ukraine answered with more than 600 drone strikes across 14 regions on the night of 16 and 17 May, including attacks in the Moscow region.
Russian authorities said those Ukrainian strikes killed at least four people that day.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the retaliatory attacks were “entirely justified” following Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian cities and communities.
More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has built a powerful drone industry in which private companies work closely with the armed forces, placing drone technology at the centre of frontline combat.
“Ukraine uses institutional awareness systems, military grade or civilian messaging platforms and streaming platforms.
“This is the most streamed, the most interconnected war of all human history,” said Fedir Serdiuk, a 30-year-old entrepreneur and co-founder of Mowa Defense, a Ukrainian defence company specialising in drone warfare expertise.
“Innovation is the way we fight now,” he added.
Ukraine’s ministry of defence said in January that drones were responsible for more than 80% of Russian casualties over the course of last year.
Drones flown by both sides monitor and dominate the ‘kill zone’, a stretch extending up to 20km on either side of the frontline, where any movement can prove fatal.
The wing of a Russian Molniya FPV drone lies in the central square of Sloviansk, Ukraine
Russia’s growing use of fibre optic drones in recent months threatens to push the ‘kill zone’ even farther.
At the same time, Ukraine is using its drone capabilities to hit targets deeper inside Russia and with greater frequency than at any point since Moscow began its full-scale invasion, with Russian energy infrastructure a leading focus.
Energy facilities remain targets
So far this month, Ukrainian drones have hit 11 Russian oil refineries, according to the Ukrainian ministry of defence.
Some of the sites lie as far as 800km from the Ukrainian border and have included attacks on Russia’s Baltic oil export depots and sanctioned Russian tankers in the Baltic Sea.
On Thursday, Ukrainian drones triggered explosions at Russian oil refineries in Yaroslavl and Syzran, more than 700km north and 800km east of the Ukrainian border respectively.
Both refineries had already been struck by Ukrainian drones in April.
Ukraine’s approach is to repeatedly target the same refineries and storage sites in an effort to erode Russian oil exports and revenue.
Some Ukrainian drones have gone even farther, reaching Russian oil refineries in the Urals in April at distances of between 1,500km and 1,700km east of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said this week that Russia’s oil refining operations had declined by 10% in recent months.
It is difficult to measure the precise effect of these deep strikes on Russia’s oil production capacity, but they are clearly disrupting the routine functioning of the country’s refineries.
The repair bill alone for Russian state oil companies is likely to be significant.
“I think we will see more strikes in operational and strategic depth, and I think that we also will make the kill zone longer, striking deeper into the frontline depth, into the rear where tanks are being stored, or fuel is being kept,” Mr Serdiuk told RTÉ News.
Russia, he said, opened “this Pandora box” in October 2022, referring to the first mass drone strikes by Russia on Ukrainian cities, eight months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“They practically kept terrorising Ukraine for many years until Ukraine developed our own capabilities to strike back”.
A satellite image shows Russia’s Tuapse Oil Refinery after Ukrainian drones hit fuel storage tanks last month
For deep strikes inside Russia, the Ukrainian armed forces deploy a mix of drones, including the ‘Liutyi’ (a heavy, fixed-wing kamikaze drone), the ‘FP-1’ (which carries a large explosive payload) and Bars.
The Liutyi weighs about 250kg, roughly the same as the Iranian-produced Shahed drone Russia uses against Ukrainian cities, and can carry an explosive payload of up to 50kg.
Designed by the Ukrainian aircraft company Antonov and built by the Ukrainian state-owned defence firm Ukroboronprom, a single Liutyi drone can cost up to $200,000 (€172,000) to produce, according to reporting by Forbes last year.
Ukraine’s armed forces said the FP-1 and the Bars were both used in last Sunday’s Ukrainian strikes on the Moscow region.
Many smaller and cheaper first-person view drones (FPVs) used in the ‘kill zone’, some built for less than €1,000 each, are now also being produced with components that extend their range.
“New drone technology can evolve in a number of weeks, not a year,” said Kseniia Kalmus, the founder and CEO of KLYN drones, a charity drone workshop in Kyiv.
Ms Kalmus once ran a florist shop in the Ukrainian capital. After Russia invaded, she traded bouquets for drones.
KLYN brings together experts and volunteers to produce FPVs for frontline units, using mostly Ukrainian-made components.
“We’re working now with new technologies, trying to implement AI to help with target recognition,” said Ms Kalmus.
“The pilot captures the target manually and then AI helps to finish the task,” she added.
Earlier this week, Mr Zelensky said he had approved Ukraine’s long-range plans for June, indicating that Ukraine’s campaign of deep strikes on Russian energy facilities will continue.
There is little indication Russia will scale back its daily drone and missile attacks on Ukraine while the US-led peace initiative remains stalled.
Mr Serdiuk, the 30-year-old Ukrainian entrepreneur and drone expert, said Ukraine’s evolution in drone tactics has been “much more formidable” than the evolution of the technology itself.
“I think it’s a race of tactics,” he said.
“It is not really about the technology itself, it’s about how do people use it”.
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Drone strikes by both Russia and Ukraine are increasing in scale and intensity week by week.
On Friday, Russian officials said Ukrainian drone attacks on a college dormitory in the town of Starobilsk in Luhansk, a region in eastern Ukraine that Russia almost entirely occupies, killed at least 18 people.
Ukraine’s armed forces said their forces had struck military targets in the town.
The incident came a week after a Russian ballistic missile demolished an apartment building in Kyiv, killing 24 people, including three children.
That strike on Kyiv took place during a week in which Russia launched more than 4,000 drones and missiles at Ukraine, killing 52 people in total.
Ukraine responded with more than 600 drone strikes across 14 regions on the night of 16 and 17 May, including attacks on the Moscow region.
Russian authorities said at least four people were killed by those Ukrainian strikes that day.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the retaliatory attacks were “entirely justified” after Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian cities and communities.
More than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has built a formidable drone industry in which private firms work closely with the country’s armed forces, ensuring drone technology sits at the heart of frontline operations.
“Ukraine uses institutional awareness systems, military grade or civilian messaging platforms and streaming platforms.
“This is the most streamed, the most interconnected war of all human history,” said Fedir Serdiuk, a 30-year-old entrepreneur and co-founder of Mowa Defense, a Ukrainian defence company specialising in drone warfare expertise.
“Innovation is the way we fight now,” he added.
Ukraine’s ministry of defence said in January that drones accounted for more than 80% of Russian casualties throughout last year.
Drones operated by both sides watch over and dominate the ‘kill zone’, a distance of up to 20km on each side of the frontline, where anything that moves can be destroyed.
Russia’s expanding use of fibre optic drones in recent months appears set to stretch the ‘kill zone’ even farther.
But Ukraine is also leveraging its drone expertise to hit targets deeper inside Russia and more regularly than at any previous stage of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, with Russian energy facilities a priority.
Energy facilities remain targets
So far this month, Ukrainian drones have struck 11 Russian oil refineries, according to the Ukrainian ministry of defence.
Some of those sites are as far as 800km from the Ukrainian border and have included attacks on Russia’s Baltic oil export depots and sanctioned Russian tankers in the Baltic Sea.
On Thursday, Ukrainian drones caused explosions at Russian oil refineries in Yaroslavl and Syzran, more than 700km north and 800km east of the Ukrainian border respectively.
Both sites had also been hit by Ukrainian drones in April.
Ukraine’s tactic is to repeatedly strike the same refineries and storage facilities in order to hurt Russian oil exports and revenues.
Some Ukrainian drones have travelled farther still, hitting Russian oil refineries in the Urals in April at distances of between 1,500km and 1,700km east of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said this week that Russia’s oil refining operations had dropped by 10% in recent months.
It is difficult to quantify the exact impact of these deep strikes on Russia’s oil production capacity, but they are undoubtedly disrupting the ordinary flow of operations at Russian refineries.
The cost of repairs alone for Russian state oil companies is likely to be considerable.
“I think we will see more strikes in operational and strategic depth, and I think that we also will make the kill zone longer, striking deeper into the frontline depth, into the rear where tanks are being stored, or fuel is being kept,” Mr Serdiuk told RTÉ News.
Russia, he said, opened “this Pandora box” in October 2022, referring to the first mass drone strikes by Russia on Ukrainian cities, eight months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“They practically kept terrorising Ukraine for many years until Ukraine developed our own capabilities to strike back”.
For deep strikes inside Russia, Ukrainian armed forces use a combination of drones including the ‘Liutyi’ (a heavy, fixed-wing kamikaze drone), the ‘FP-1’ (which carries a large explosive payload) and Bars.
The Liutyi weighs about 250kg, about the same as the Iranian-produced Shahed drone that Russia uses against Ukrainian cities, and carries an explosive payload of up to 50kg.
Designed by Ukrainian aircraft company Antonov and built by Ukrainian state-owned defence firm Ukroboronprom, one Liutyi drone can cost up to $200,000 (€172,000) to produce, according to Forbes reporting last year.
According to Ukraine’s armed forces, the FP-1 and the Bars were both used in last Sunday’s Ukrainian strikes on the Moscow region.
Many smaller, cheaper first-person view drones (FPVs) used in the ‘kill zone’, some produced for less than €1,000 per unit, are now also being built with components that extend their flight range.
“New drone technology can evolve in a number of weeks, not a year,” said Kseniia Kalmus, the founder and CEO of KLYN drones, a charity drone workshop in Kyiv.
Ms Kalmus used to run a florist shop in the Ukrainian capital. When Russia invaded, she exchanged flower-making for drone production.
KLYN brings together experts and volunteers to produce FPVs for frontline units, using a majority of Ukrainian components.
“We’re working now with new technologies, trying to implement AI to help with target recognition,” said Ms Kalmus.
“The pilot captures the target manually and then AI helps to finish the task,” she added.
Earlier this week, Mr Zelensky said he had approved Ukraine’s long-range plans for June, signaling that Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign against Russian energy facilities will continue.
There is little sign Russia will reduce the volume of its daily drone and missile attacks on Ukraine while the US-led peace initiative remains stalled.
Mr Serdiuk, the 30-year-old Ukrainian entrepreneur and drone expert, believes Ukraine’s evolution in drone tactics has been “much more formidable” than the evolution of the technology itself.
“I think it’s a race of tactics,” he said.
“It is not really about the technology itself, it’s about how do people use it”.
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