Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian drones have carried out nearly 200 successful strikes on Russian oil refineries

Since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainian attack drones have struck Russian oil refineries at least 194 times, triggering a serious crisis in Russia’s domestic fuel market. 

The Financial Times, based on its own analysis and data from the Polish analytical group Rochan Consulting, reported that the intensity of the attacks has increased 11-fold compared to the same period last year. A historic monthly record was set in May of this year, when analysts counted 16 successful strikes on oil refining facilities.

Experts attribute the increased effectiveness of the air campaigns to Ukraine’s technological breakthrough in the mass production of long-range UAVs and improvements in their control systems. Intelligence support from the United States also plays a significant role, enabling the Ukrainian military to meticulously calculate optimal flight paths to bypass Russian air defense systems.

The Russian Ministry of Defense traditionally claims to have intercepted the vast majority of aerial targets. According to official Russian statistics, 63,933 drones were allegedly shot down over Russian territory and the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine during the first six months of 2026. The sharp increase in reported shoot-down figures — specifically, 14,195 in May and 17,832 in June, compared to 6,000 in January — directly confirms Ukraine’s large-scale increase in the number of drones deployed in airstrikes.

This is reported by the Financial Times. 

GEOINT researchers verified damage to processing facilities and storage tanks at the Moscow Oil Refinery.

Madyar pointed out the inscription on the drones that attacked the Moscow Oil Refinery for the third time