U.S. Intelligence Helps Ukraine Bypass Russian Air Defense Systems – FT
U.S. intelligence is providing Ukraine with information that helps it determine optimal routes for attack drones and evade Russian air defense systems, according to the Financial Times.
According to the publication, since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainian drones have carried out at least 194 strikes on Russian oil refineries—11 times more than during the same period last year. May saw a historic monthly record of 16 successful strikes, including repeated attacks on an oil refinery in Moscow. The data comes from the Polish analytical group Rochan Consulting.
Ukrainian officials told the FT that U.S. intelligence provides the Defense Forces with up-to-date data that helps plan drone routes deep into Russian territory and bypass its air defense positions.
According to the publication’s assessment, the intensification of the strikes has triggered Russia’s worst fuel crisis in decades: more than half of the country’s regions have imposed restrictions on gasoline sales, and gas stations are seeing lines stretching for hours.
Konrad Muzyka, director of Rochan Consulting, noted that the campaign has already gone beyond targeted strikes on the oil and gas sector—it has evolved into a systematic strategy to simultaneously wear down Russia’s energy, logistics, and industrial sectors.
Stefan Meister, head of the Eurasia Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations, noted that Ukraine has achieved a technological breakthrough that has enabled it to ramp up mass production of long-range drones.
Official data from the Russian Ministry of Defense state that during the first six months of 2026, at least 63,933 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Russian territory and the occupied territories. However, the increase in the number of successful strikes on oil refineries indicates that the sheer volume of launches is increasingly overwhelming the capabilities of Russian air defense.
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, acknowledged that Putin “made yet another fatal strategic mistake” by counting on time to work in Russia’s favor: the Kremlin failed to force Ukraine to capitulate, but instead gave it time to develop mass production of deep-strike capabilities.
According to the FT, despite pressure on the fuel sector, Moscow is insisting in its contacts with U.S. representatives that Kyiv make concessions, and U.S.-mediated trilateral talks are unlikely to resume by the end of summer.
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