Up to 100 drones across Russia: night attack on refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban and other rear targets
17.12.2025Night, drones and burning refineries: why the Russian rear increasingly looks like a frontline zone
On the night of December 17, Russian regions woke up again to explosions and airstrikes: according to Russian sources, dozens of drones were operating in the sky, and Ukrainian and international media are talking about a massive raid, which could have used up to a hundred drones of various types.8 10 12 One of the key epicenters of the attacks was Slavyansk-on-Kuban in the Krasnodar Territory, where the powerful Slavyansk ECO oil refinery is located next to the city - an enterprise that has repeatedly been the target of attacks and is an important element of the Russian army's fuel logistics.1 2 6 Nighttime videos from Sloviansk show flashes of explosions and the glow of fire, while local channels report air defense operations and new hits on industrial facilities.7 10 13 .
What is known about the night attack: the version of Russian and Ukrainian sources
Russian Telegram channels and official structures reported on the night of December 17 a series of explosions in the Krasnodar Territory, Volgograd Region, as well as in the Yeisk region, Saratov Region, and a number of other settlements.7 8 12 According to their data, “unidentified drones” were shot down in the air, but videos from social networks showed not only the work of air defense, but also the hitting of drones in industrial zones, in particular, in the area of the oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban.7 10 13 Local residents wrote about a "series of strikes," after which a glow of fire and columns of smoke could be seen over the city for a long time.7 13 .
Ukrainian media, citing their own sources and open video footage, specify that this is another wave of strikes on Russian oil refining and military infrastructure deep inside the territory of the Russian Federation.1 2 10 Kyiv traditionally refrains from direct official statements regarding specific strikes on facilities in Russia, but previously Ukrainian security forces have repeatedly confirmed their involvement in similar operations aimed at limiting the Russian Federation's ability to supply fuel and ammunition to the front.2 3 .
Slavyansk ECO: why this refinery is constantly under scrutiny
The oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban is one of the key nodes of the fuel infrastructure of southern Russia.1 2 According to Ukrainian and Western analysts, the enterprise processes about 6,25 million tons of oil per year, which is more than 2% of the total volume of Russian oil refining, and is an important source of diesel fuel and aviation kerosene for the military needs of the Russian Federation.1 2 That is why this refinery appears in numerous reports of drone strikes: over the past one and a half to two years, it has already been attacked several times, which led to the shutdown of individual installations and fires on the territory of the enterprise.1 3 5 .
The CEPA think tank estimated that between September 2023 and the beginning of 2025, Ukraine carried out about 100 strikes on oil refineries and oil depots in Russia, among which Slavyansk ECO is named as one of the facilities that were repeatedly attacked along with Afipsky, Ilsky and Novoshakhtynsky refineries.3 This focus is explained not only by military, but also by economic logic: hitting critical fuel system nodes requires the Russian Federation to make expensive repairs, reorganize logistics, and create additional pressure on the budget and export revenues.1 3 .
A hundred drones or information warfare with numbers?
The phrase "up to a hundred drones" in the headlines about the latest attack reflects a general trend: both sides are increasingly talking about massive raids involving dozens and even more than a hundred drones at the same time.2 8 12 The Russian Defense Ministry regularly reports “dozens of Ukrainian UAVs shot down,” citing figures ranging from 30–40 to more than a hundred in one night; in September 2025, for example, it claimed to have destroyed 114 drones over nine regions, including the Krasnodar Territory.8 At the same time, some of the "downed" drones, according to independent sources, fall on industrial facilities or residential buildings, causing fires and destruction, which the Russian side is trying to present as "the consequences of air defense operations," rather than successful strikes.7 8 9 .
Ukrainian and Western media, for their part, are usually more cautious in assessing the scale of the attacks and rely on a combination of video from the scene, satellite images and testimonies from local residents.2 5 10 . Thus, in May 2024, independent sources reported the shooting down of approximately six drones at the refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, while the Russian authorities spoke of “at least 10 downed aircraft” over the region.5 In the present case, the figure “up to a hundred” reflects the total number of drones involved in the night operation over several regions of the Russian Federation, and not just in the area of Slavyansk-on-Kuban.2 7 12 .
Victims and destruction: official Russian data and what footage from the scene shows
According to Russian official structures, at least two people were injured and several private houses and a power line were damaged in the Slavyansk district of the Krasnodar region as a result of falling drone debris.8 9 Authorities report that the injured have been taken to hospital, and schools and kindergartens in the area have temporarily closed for "safety reasons."8 9 . At the same time, the first reports, as a rule, do not mention either the oil refinery itself or possible hits on military infrastructure - they only talk about the "neutralization of UAVs" and "local fires of grass or unused buildings."7 9 .
Independent resources, including Kyiv Post, as well as Ukrainian sites monitoring Russian regions, are publishing videos showing hits and fires near industrial facilities in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, including the territory of a military unit or technical units of the refinery.2 7 10 In previous attacks on the same city, according to journalistic investigations, both oil refining facilities and military warehouses and logistics facilities were hit, which was confirmed by satellite images and photos of the consequences of fires.2 5 .
Chain of strikes: from Slavyansk to Volgograd and Yaroslavl
The latest wave of attacks is part of a broader chain of operations against the Russian oil industry. In the days leading up to the incident in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Ukrainian forces had reported strikes on the Afipsk refinery, an oil depot in Uryupinsk, and the Slavneft-YANOS facility in the Yaroslavl region of the Russian Federation.1 2 7 According to the Ukrainian military, these facilities are used to provide Russian troops with fuel and lubricants, as well as elements of the economic base that finances the continuation of the war against Ukraine.1 2 In parallel, Russian sources reported attacks on railway infrastructure in the Volgograd region and explosions at industrial enterprises in Stavropol.7 10 .
On the night of the attack on Slavyansk-on-Kuban, attempts to strike Novorossiysk and its port, where part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based and oil transportation facilities are located, were also recorded over the Black Sea coast.2 10 12 The combination of these targets — refineries, oil depots, railways, ports — indicates the systemic nature of the campaign: it is not about symbolic “punishments,” but about the gradual elimination of the strongholds of the Russian military-economic machine.3 10 .
"Drones say: stop the oil": Ukraine's strategy against the Russian energy sector
Experts from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in their reviews directly call the campaign against Russian oil refining facilities an attempt to "turn off the valve" on the Russian military economy.3 According to their estimates, from the fall of 2023 to the beginning of 2025, Ukrainian drones attacked about a hundred oil refineries and fuel and lubricants warehouses on Russian territory, forcing the Kremlin to spend resources on restoration, change supply logistics, and partially redirect raw materials to domestic needs instead of export.3 . Particularly painful are the strikes on enterprises in the southern regions — Krasnodar Krai, Rostov Oblast, Yaroslavl Oblast — from where fuel goes directly to military units located near Ukraine and in the occupied territories.1 2 3 .
A separate effect is psychological and political: Russian society is increasingly seeing videos of burning warehouses, refineries, and military units in regions that until recently were considered the "deep rear."2 10 12 . For the Kremlin, this means the need to prove that “everything is under control” by increasing spending on air defense, security of facilities, and information campaigns designed to minimize the scale of the consequences. For Ukraine, it is an opportunity to show that the war is not limited to the front line and that the economic cost of aggression will grow with each month of continued hostilities.3 10 .
Western reaction: support for the right to self-defense and discussion of the risks of escalation
International reactions to strikes on Russian refineries and fuel depots traditionally balance between recognition of Ukraine's right to self-defense and fears of conflict escalation.3 10 Official representatives of the US and EU in public statements, as a rule, avoid commenting on each specific strike, but emphasize that it is Russia that bears full responsibility for the consequences of its aggression, including the fact that hostilities are now increasingly "returning" to its territory.3 At the same time, there is an ongoing discussion at the expert level about whether a large-scale campaign against Russia's energy infrastructure will lead to excessive fluctuations in global energy markets and how this could affect fuel prices in Western countries themselves.3 .
Despite these warnings, the trend is obvious: the longer the war lasts and the more actively Russia continues to shell Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, the fewer political arguments remain against Ukraine striking deep into the aggressor's territory at legitimate military targets, which include fuel logistics.2 3 10 . Words about “restrictions on the use of Western weapons by the Russian Federation” are increasingly accompanied by the rapid development of Ukrainian long-range drones that do not fall under these restrictions.3 .
For the Russian rear — a new reality, for Ukraine — another lever of pressure
The night attack on Slavyansk-on-Kuban and other Russian regions fits into the already familiar picture for 2025: the "far rear" of the Russian Federation is increasingly becoming a space where war is felt not from the TV, but from the window of one's own apartment.2 7 12 For residents of Krasnodar Krai and neighboring regions, this means a new normality — air raid warnings, explosions, restrictions on the work of schools and kindergartens, power outages and transport disruptions due to damaged substations and railway junctions.7 8 9 For Russia as a state, the growing cost of war, which can no longer be "taken out of the context" of everyday life and explained only by "events somewhere far away"3 10 .
For Ukraine, strikes on targets such as Slavyansk ECO are not only a tactical attempt to reduce the flow of fuel to the front, but also a strategic signal: no depth of territory is completely protected if this territory is used to wage an aggressive war.1 2 3 . Massive drone attacks covering several regions of the Russian Federation demonstrate the ability of Ukrainian defense to operate at long distances, coordinate strikes on different types of targets, and force the Russian leadership to reckon with the fact that the war is increasingly returning to the one who started it.3 10 .
Sources
- RBC-Ukraine: Russia says oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban hit in drone strike
- The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian drones strike Russian oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai
- CEPA: Ukraine's Drones Say Just Stop Oil
- Ukrainska Pravda: Drones attack Slavyansk-on-Kuban oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai
- Militarnyi: Drones strike an oil refinery in the Krasnodar Krai
- Militarnyi: UAVs strike an oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Krasnodar Krai
- RBC-Ukraine: Unknown drones strike Slavyansk-on-Kuban, fire breaks out near oil refinery
- Reuters: Russia downs dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight, damage in southern regions
- TASS / Russian official reports: Two people injured in Krasnodar Region by falling drone debris
- Kyiv Post: Oil, bases, railway stations ablaze as drones pummel Russia
- Kyiv Post: Oil sites blaze in southern Russia after Ukrainian drone attacks
- European and Ukrainian monitoring media: Russia attacked by drones, several regions under attack – video
- Babel: Drones attacked an oil refinery in Sloviansk-na-Kuban, fire broke out
