In the early hours of November 6, 2025, the skies above Russia’s vast southern and central regions lit up with the telltale flashes of drone warfare, as Ukraine unleashed one of its most far-reaching and audacious attacks yet on Russian energy infrastructure. The operation, confirmed by Ukrainian military officials and widely reported by international outlets such as Kyiv Post, RFE/RL, and The Moscow Times, targeted the Volgograd oil refinery—one of Russia’s largest—and the Kostroma GRES power plant, striking at the heart of the country’s fuel and electricity supplies as winter looms.
The Volgograd oil refinery, operated by Lukoil and located in the city’s Krasnoarmeiskyi district, is a cornerstone of Russia’s energy sector. With an annual processing capacity of more than 15 million tons of crude—representing nearly 6% of Russia’s total output—the refinery is no stranger to Ukrainian attacks. According to Kyiv Post, the facility had already been hit earlier in September, forcing a temporary shutdown. This latest strike, however, unfolded with deadly consequences. Volgograd region Governor Andrei Bocharov reported that a 48-year-old man was killed by shrapnel in a 24-story apartment building during what he described as a “massive” drone attack. Drone debris also sparked a fire at an industrial site within the district, underscoring the risks to civilians when warfare creeps into urban centers.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces took credit for the Volgograd strike, stating that their Deep Strike units, in collaboration with other military branches, had executed the operation as part of a broader campaign “to strategically weaken the enemy’s ability to wage war against Ukraine.” Their statement, carried by Kyiv Post, was blunt: “Special Operations Forces continue to conduct asymmetric actions to strategically weaken the enemy’s ability to wage war against Ukraine.” The military’s motto—“Always beyond the line”—echoed through their communique, signaling an intent to keep Russia’s leadership guessing about the next blow.
But the Volgograd refinery was not the only target. Hundreds of miles northeast, in the city of Volgorechensk, drones struck the Kostroma GRES power plant—one of Russia’s largest thermal power stations and a critical node in the national grid. Governor Sergei Sitnikov confirmed that “several explosions” rocked the city, igniting a massive fire at the plant’s gas distribution site. Remarkably, no casualties were reported, and electricity supplies remained uninterrupted, Sitnikov told local media. Still, footage circulating online showed flames and thick smoke billowing from the facility, and independent outlet Astra published images suggesting at least two drones had hit the station.
Russian authorities scrambled to respond. The Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses had shot down 75 Ukrainian drones overnight—a figure echoed by both RFE/RL and The Moscow Times—with 49 intercepted over the Volgograd region alone. Drones were also reported downed over Voronezh, Rostov, Belgorod, Oryol, and occupied Crimea. Yet, as the smoke cleared, the damage was done: fires burned at key energy sites, and the psychological impact of the strikes rippled across Russian society.
The barrage didn’t stop at Volgograd and Kostroma. Ukrainian forces confirmed hitting a drone storage site near Donetsk airport in Russian-occupied territory, as well as fuel depots in annexed Crimea. Meanwhile, in Russia’s Bryansk region, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said Ukrainian drones injured at least one person, and civil aviation authorities announced that 13 airports—including Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, Saratov, and Volgograd—temporarily suspended flights to ensure safety during the onslaught.
The timing of these attacks was no coincidence. As the first snows begin to fall across Eastern Europe, both sides are racing to cripple each other’s energy infrastructure before the deep freeze sets in. Kyiv, for its part, has made no secret of its strategy. According to The Moscow Times, Ukrainian security officials claim more than 160 strikes on Russian oil facilities so far in 2025, with Western analysts estimating that 16 major refineries—about 38% of Russia’s capacity—have been hit. The International Energy Agency puts the impact at roughly 500,000 barrels per day knocked offline, a serious (if not yet crippling) blow to the Kremlin’s war chest.
In the words of Ukraine’s military, the goal is simple: “to undermine Moscow’s war effort.” The strikes, they argue, are a direct response to Russia’s own relentless campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure. Indeed, as Ukrainian drones buzzed over Russian cities, Russian forces continued to pound Ukrainian targets. Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Vladyslav Hayvanenko reported that Russian drones hit the city of Kamyanske, injuring eight people, sparking fires, and damaging a four-story residential building. In Dnipro and the Petropavlivka community, further drone attacks ignited blazes at municipal sites, while in Kharkiv, six—including a 10-year-old girl—were wounded in the city of Bohodukhiv over the past 24 hours, according to Governor Oleh Synehubov.
Russian officials, meanwhile, have sought to downplay the strategic impact of the Ukrainian strikes, emphasizing the effectiveness of their air defenses and the swift restoration of services. Yet, the fact that air traffic was restricted at so many airports—and that fires raged at flagship energy facilities—suggests a growing vulnerability. The attacks have forced Russian authorities to confront the reality that even deep inside their own territory, no site is entirely safe from Ukrainian reach.
Amid the escalating tit-for-tat, Ukraine has doubled down on its appeals to Western allies for advanced weaponry. Kyiv has pleaded with the United States for long-range missiles such as the Tomahawk, arguing that such tools are crucial for hitting back at Russia’s logistical and energy infrastructure—especially as the Kremlin intensifies its bombardment of Ukrainian cities. The Biden administration, however, has so far hesitated, wary of provoking further escalation.
While neither side’s battlefield claims can be independently verified in the fog of war, one thing is clear: the tempo and sophistication of Ukraine’s cross-border drone campaign have increased markedly. The use of deep strikes against Russia’s energy backbone is a calculated gamble, intended to sap Moscow’s ability to fuel its war machine and, perhaps, to sap the morale of Russian citizens as the nights grow colder and darker.
For the residents of Volgograd, Kostroma, and other affected regions, however, the war’s front lines are no longer distant abstractions—they are all too real, etched into the night sky by the flash of explosions and the wail of air-raid sirens. As winter approaches, the contest over energy infrastructure is set to intensify, with both sides determined to deny the other warmth, light, and the means to continue the fight.
