Ukraine has opened the new year by pushing its drone war deeper into Russian territory, using long-range strikes to ignite ammunition depots and oil facilities far from the front line. According to a Ukrainian security official, elite units from the Security Service of Ukraine, including the Alpha special forces group, have been central to these operations, which triggered large explosions and fires at key logistics hubs. The campaign signals a deliberate effort to hit the infrastructure that keeps Russia’s invasion supplied, rather than only the troops and armor at the contact line.
The latest wave of attacks, carried out with deep-strike drones, targeted a missile and artillery arsenal as well as fuel depots that feed Russian operations against Ukrainian cities. While Kyiv maintains formal ambiguity about some individual strikes, Ukrainian military structures and regional Russian officials have confirmed impacts at several sites, underscoring how the battlefield is expanding into Russia’s own rear areas.
Alpha group and the SBU’s evolving deep-strike playbook
Ukrainian officials say the country’s most capable special forces are now deeply involved in planning and executing long-range drone attacks on Russian infrastructure. A security official, identified in reporting only as Jan, described how Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, has used its elite Alpha unit to coordinate deep-strike missions against Russian ammunition and oil facilities, characterizing Alpha as among the very best of Ukraine’s special forces and central to the recent wave of attacks that set off explosions and fires at rear-area targets, according to remarks shared with a Ukrainian security official. The same official stressed that the objective is to degrade Russia’s ability to sustain its offensive, not simply to stage symbolic strikes.
The SBU has framed these operations as a logical response to Russia’s continued missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. In a detailed account of overnight operations, the service highlighted how its units conducted coordinated drone strikes on Russian arsenals and fuel depots, describing multiple hits on ammunition storage and oil facilities during the same night and citing battlefield updates shared on Telegram channels. Within this framework, Alpha is portrayed as the sharp end of a broader SBU campaign that blends intelligence, sabotage and long-range strike capabilities to reach deep into Russian territory.
Missile arsenals and oil depots in Russia come under fire
Ukraine’s military leadership has begun to publicly acknowledge some of the most significant hits on Russian territory, underscoring the strategic nature of the targets. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that drones struck a missile and artillery arsenal in Russia, describing it as a storage site for operational-tactical missiles prepared for shipment, and added that the same wave of attacks hit the Gerkon Plus oil depot near a Russian settlement, damaging fuel infrastructure that supports the war effort, according to a statement from the AFU General Staff. By pairing a strike on a missile hub with a hit on a fuel depot, Kyiv signaled that it is targeting both the weapons Russia fires and the logistics that move them.
Independent reporting has traced some of these attacks to specific regions inside Russia, illustrating how Ukrainian drones are now reaching hundreds of kilometers beyond the front. One account detailed how Ukrainian forces used drones to hit an oil depot in Russia’s Lipetsk region and an ammunition hub near the town of Neya in Kostroma Oblast, describing the Lipetsk facility as a fuel storage site and the Kostroma target as a military logistics node, in a report that cited Ukrainian drone strikes on an oil depot and ammunition hub. Together, these confirmed and reported hits show a pattern of Ukrainian planners pairing high-value military stockpiles with the fuel infrastructure that keeps them operational.
Kostroma, Lipetsk and the geography of Russia’s vulnerable rear
The strikes have forced Russian regional authorities to acknowledge that their territories are now part of the active war zone. In Kostroma region, governor Sergey Sitnikov used his Telegram channel to report that drones had targeted military and strategic facilities, and he noted that a partial evacuation was ordered in the town of Kostroma after explosions at what Ukrainian sources described as an ammunition depot, according to a detailed account of the Kostroma drone attack. The same incident was cited by Ukrainian security officials as one of the key successes of the recent deep-strike campaign, with footage showing large secondary explosions consistent with ammunition detonations.
Further south, the Lipetsk region has emerged as another focal point of Ukrainian drone activity. Reporting on the recent wave of strikes noted that Ukrainian drones hit an oil depot in Russia’s Lipetsk region, describing the facility as part of the country’s fuel distribution network and linking the attack to a broader pattern of Ukrainian operations against Russian oil infrastructure, in a summary that identified the attackers as Ukrainian forces striking Lipetsk. By reaching both Kostroma and Lipetsk, Ukrainian drones have demonstrated the ability to hit targets across a wide swath of western Russia, complicating Moscow’s efforts to shield its rear areas.
A broader campaign against Russian oil, Shahed depots and command posts
The latest Alpha-led operations are part of a wider Ukrainian strategy that has increasingly focused on Russian oil infrastructure and drone bases. Earlier this year, Ukrainian forces launched coordinated strikes on Russian oil facilities, a Shahed drone depot and a command post in Krasnodar and Tatarstan, targeting industrial infrastructure and fuel sites that support Russia’s use of Shahed-type drones against Ukrainian cities, according to a detailed account of how Ukraine hit Russian oil and a Shahed depot. Those attacks were framed by Ukrainian sources as retaliation for repeated strikes on civilian infrastructure and as a way to raise the cost of Russia’s drone campaign.
Additional reporting on the same wave of operations noted that Ukraine started the year with strikes on Russian oil, a Shahed depot and a command post in Krasnodar and Tatarstan, describing how explosions were recorded at industrial infrastructure and fuel facilities that had been linked to attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets, in coverage that highlighted how Ukraine starts 2026 with strikes on Russian oil and a Shahed depot. Taken together with the more recent hits on Lipetsk, Kostroma and Gerkon Plus, the pattern points to a sustained campaign against the energy and drone infrastructure that underpins Russia’s long-range attacks.
Strategic messaging, Russian responses and the risks of escalation
Kyiv has paired its operational tempo with a clear message about what it considers legitimate targets. A source from the SBU, cited in coverage of the Alpha group’s role, said that all Russian rear facilities that help fuel the war effort are considered legitimate targets, and emphasized that since August Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian oil infrastructure that helps fuel its war efforts, in comments attributed to an SBU representative discussing Alpha’s deep-strike operations. That framing is designed both to justify the strikes under international law and to warn Moscow that continued attacks on Ukrainian cities will invite more blows against Russia’s own critical infrastructure.
Russian officials, for their part, have acknowledged some of the damage while trying to downplay its impact. In addition to Sergey Sitnikov’s admission of strikes on military and strategic facilities in Kostroma, Russian channels have reported fires and explosions at oil depots and arsenals, even as they insist that air defenses intercepted most incoming drones. Ukrainian sources counter that the scale of the blasts, including at the Gerkon Plus oil depot and the missile and artillery arsenal, shows that key targets were hit, a claim supported by the General Staff’s confirmation of strikes on a missile arsenal and oil depot. The information battle over these incidents mirrors the physical one, with each side seeking to shape perceptions of vulnerability and control.
How Ukraine’s drone reach is reshaping the wider war
The growing range and precision of Ukrainian drones are changing the strategic map of the conflict. Reporting on the recent attacks noted that drones struck a missile and artillery arsenal and an oil depot in Russia, describing how Ukrainian drones hit targets deep inside Russian territory and framing the operations as part of a broader series of drone strikes on Russia, in coverage that summarized how drones strike missile and artillery arsenals and oil depots. Another account highlighted how the drone attack on the Kostroma region was one of several deep strikes carried out by Ukraine, noting that explosions were recorded in the western Kostroma region and tying the incident to a broader pattern of Ukrainian deep-strike drones hitting Russian ammo and oil facilities, in a report that urged readers to follow coverage of drones in the western Kostroma region. Together, these accounts show how Ukrainian planners are using relatively low-cost systems to impose strategic dilemmas on Russia far from the front line.
The deep-strike campaign also intersects with Ukraine’s broader diplomatic and military context. As Kyiv seeks to maintain Western support while facing pressure from Russian offensives, demonstrating the ability to hit high-value targets inside Russia serves both military and political purposes. One report on the drone war placed the strikes on missile and artillery arsenals and oil depots alongside coverage of international issues such as Venezuela peace talks and references to President Donald Trump, underscoring how drone strikes on Russia are now part of a wider global conversation about security and escalation. Within that landscape, the SBU’s Alpha group and other Ukrainian units are using drones not only to destroy ammunition and oil, but also to signal that Russia’s rear is no longer a sanctuary.
Even locations far from the immediate war zone are now framed through the lens of vulnerability and reach. Mapping tools that show Russian infrastructure, including facilities in regions like Kostroma and Lipetsk, have become reference points for analysts tracking where Ukrainian drones might strike next, with some observers using platforms that visualize places such as Kostroma Oblast to understand the geography of Russia’s rear. Against that backdrop, additional reporting has emphasized that Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil, Shahed depots and command posts in Krasnodar and Tatarstan are part of a sustained pattern, with one account noting that Ukraine starts 2026 with strikes on Russian oil and a Shahed depot. In that sense, the Alpha group’s latest deep-strike operations are not isolated raids, but the latest chapter in a methodical effort to erode Russia’s capacity to wage war.
As the campaign continues, Ukrainian officials and analysts alike point to the role of specialized units in sustaining pressure on Russian logistics. One report on the drone attack on the Kostroma region highlighted how the operation was attributed to Ukraine’s elite Alpha group, describing the unit as a key component of the SBU’s special forces and noting that the drone attack on the Kostroma region was carried out by the best of Ukraine’s special forces, in coverage that framed Alpha’s role in the Kostroma strike. Another account, citing the same security official Jan, reiterated that Ukraine’s deep-strike drones had hit Russian ammo and oil facilities, sparking explosions and fires, and stressed that these operations are part of a deliberate strategy to hit the logistics that fuel Russia’s war, in reporting that described how Ukraine’s elite Alpha group hit Russian ammo and oil. For now, the explosions in Kostroma, Lipetsk and beyond suggest that this strategy is having tangible effects on the ground, even as the risks of escalation remain high.
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