Ukrainian drones hit Russian Arctic fuel plants in record-range strikes

Ukraine’s drones flew nearly 2,000 miles into northwestern Siberia to strike two Russian gas facilities, Ukrainian special forces said. The targets were a major plant in Novy Urengoy and another facility about 60 miles south in the Purovsky district, both in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Business Insider described the attacks as the war’s longest-range drone strikes carried out by Ukraine since the war began.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said the area had been considered a safe rear for Russia before the strikes. Yamalo-Nenets’ governor, Dmitry Artyukhov, said a drone attack caused a fire at an industrial facility and that there were no fatalities or injuries. The extent and nature of the damage were still being determined, according to his statement.

Ukraine’s SSO did not specify which drones were used or detail the damage to the facilities, which process raw materials and gas condensate. Fire Point separately said its FP-1 one-way drones were involved in the Novy Urengoy strike and said they covered more than 3,200 km. The company typically cites the FP-1’s range as 2,600 km, or 1,615 miles, while saying an improved version can travel up to 2,110 miles.

The strikes fit Ukraine’s ongoing campaign of long-reaching drone attacks against Russia’s energy sector, which Business Insider describes as a core economic pillar. The article notes a July SSO strike against an oil facility in Omsk, about 1,700 miles away, that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said involved upgraded Fire Point drones. The key takeaway: Ukraine is extending its strike reach into areas of Russia that were previously far beyond the usual battlefield geography.