Ukraine unleashes 660 drones across 12 Russian regions in one of the heaviest bombardments of the war
KYIV. Ukraine launched 660 drones across a dozen Russian regions and occupied Crimea overnight on June 25-26 in what appears to be the largest aerial attack of the four-year war, hitting naval targets in Kerch and industrial facilities south of Moscow as Kyiv opened a new phase in its long-range strike campaign.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting 660 Ukrainian drones over 12 regions plus the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. The previous record was 556 drones on May 17, underscoring how quickly Ukraine has scaled up its domestic drone production and strike capacity.
The assault came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he had ordered a “40-day influence operation” aimed at “compelling Russia to end the war.” Zelenskyy said he approved the plan after a briefing from acting SBU head Major General Yevhen Khmara, who reported on Ukraine’s strategy of “long-range sanctions,” the term Kyiv uses for drone strikes deep inside Russian territory.
“This is about systemic pressure, military, economic, and psychological, to force Moscow to confront the costs of its invasion,” a Ukrainian official familiar with the planning told 1ban.news.
Record scale and shifting strategy
The sheer volume of drones launched in a single wave marks a significant escalation. On the night of June 25, swarms of unmanned aircraft crossed into Russian airspace from multiple directions, overwhelming air defense systems across a vast arc from the Moscow region to the Sea of Azov.
In the capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 drones were downed as they approached the city, with emergency services deployed to debris fall sites. He did not report any casualties or damage.
In the Tula region, about 112 miles (180 kilometers) south of Moscow, a woman was wounded by falling debris and a private home was damaged. Governor Dmitry Milyaev confirmed that a power line and an industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk were also struck. Russian independent outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk caught fire after the attack, though the claims could not be independently verified.
Strikes on Russian naval assets in Crimea
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said its drones struck two Russian navy ships and a military ferry in the port of Kerch, Crimea, starting a large fire. The targets were the Volga and Vyatka, both reconnaissance and mine-laying vessels, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, which Moscow has used for military logistics across the Kerch Strait.
The SBU said the strikes hit air defense radars in the area as well. The claims could not be independently verified, but satellite imagery of the Kerch area in recent weeks has shown extensive smoke and fire damage from ongoing Ukrainian strikes on fuel depots and military infrastructure.
The attack on Crimea is part of a broader Ukrainian campaign to isolate the peninsula, cutting Russian supply lines and choking fuel deliveries to occupying forces. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said Kyiv aims to make Crimea “an island,” severing its road and rail links to mainland Russia.
Zelenskyyu2019s 40-day campaign
Zelenskyyu2019s announcement of a 40-day influence operation signals a deliberate, time-bound escalation rather than ad hoc strikes. The president said the operation would leverage the SBUu2019s Special Operations Center Alpha, which he praised for leading in “personnel and equipment neutralized” on the front lines.
While Zelenskyy did not specify operational details, the timing is significant. It follows a year of stalled U.S. peace efforts and comes ahead of a NATO summit next month where Ukraine is expected to press for deeper military commitments. Zelenskyy also recently said he received promises of further foreign support at the G7 summit.
The “medium-range” and “long-range” sanctions he referenced map onto Ukraine’s two-tier drone strategy: strikes against Russian logistics hubs in occupied territory within 20 to 200 kilometers of the front, and deep strikes against oil refineries, air bases, and industrial targets hundreds of kilometers inside Russia.
Battering Russiau2019s fuel supply
Ukraineu2019s long-range drone campaign has been methodically targeting Russian oil production and energy infrastructure for months. Western officials and analysts say the strategy is choking Russian fuel supplies and disrupting military logistics, stalling Moscowu2019s battlefield momentum.
Fuel shortages have been reported across occupied Crimea and in multiple Russian regions. Gas stations in Crimea have been prohibited from selling fuel to the public, and Russian authorities have introduced purchase limits in some areas. The Kremlin acknowledged rising fuel prices on June 22, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the government was coordinating with oil companies to address the shortages.
The June 25-26 attack follows the June 24 shutdown of the Kstovo refinery, Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest producer of gasoline, after a Ukrainian drone strike, according to Reuters. The Moscow Oil Refinery was also knocked offline earlier in June by repeated drone attacks.
Russia continues its own aerial campaign
While Ukraine pressed its largest drone assault, Russia continued its own strikes on Ukrainian population centers and infrastructure. Over the past 24 hours, Russian attacks killed three civilians and wounded 29 across Ukraine, officials said.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, two people were killed and seven wounded as Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements using guided aerial bombs and drones. In Izium, a woman was killed and three others wounded in a drone attack Friday morning.
Ukraineu2019s air force reported intercepting 174 of 189 Russian drones launched overnight, but four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles got through air defenses and struck their targets.
The exchange of blows underscores a war that has entered a dangerous new phase, one in which Ukraine is increasingly able to project power deep into Russian territory at a scale that would have been unimaginable at the start of the invasion.
With the 40-day campaign now underway, both sides appear to be bracing for an intense summer of strikes, counterstrikes, and diplomatic maneuvering as the conflict grinds toward its fifth year.
– George, 1ban.news