Over the course of December 14 and 15, 2025, a dramatic escalation unfolded across the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Ukrainian forces unleashed a series of coordinated drone strikes targeting Russian military and energy infrastructure deep inside both occupied territories and Russia proper. These attacks, which included a wave of drones aimed at Moscow and vital oil facilities, have not only tested Russian air defenses but have also triggered ripples of geopolitical and economic concern far beyond the immediate battlefield.
According to reporting from The Kyiv Independent and official statements from both Ukrainian and Russian authorities, the Ukrainian Army’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) spearheaded a string of drone strikes overnight on December 14. Their targets: Russian military infrastructure in temporarily occupied Crimea and Donetsk Oblast. The SSO deployed FP-2 strike drones to hit a moving fuel train transporting critical supplies for Russian troops near Yantarne in Crimea, as well as an oil depot in the nearby settlement of Bitumne. Video footage released by Ukrainian forces showed the drones striking their marks with precision, a clear demonstration of Ukraine’s growing reliance on asymmetric tactics to degrade Russia’s offensive capabilities.
The scope of the Ukrainian campaign extended into Donetsk Oblast, where SSO drones took out a Volna-2 electronic warfare station in Marianivka and struck a training center for FPV drone operators near Dokuchaievsk. The Ukrainian Army’s General Staff corroborated these claims and added that other Ukrainian units had struck two command posts belonging to Russia’s 76th Air Assault Division, another electronic warfare station, and the Imbyr radar station in Donetsk. In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian forces targeted a Tor-M2 air defense system and a laboratory used for Russian UAV systems. Meanwhile, in occupied Crimea, strikes hit two fuel bases, the Kasta-2E2 radar station, and a 96L6E radar unit integral to Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense systems. As of December 14, the full extent of the damage was still being assessed.
But the Ukrainian drone campaign did not stop at the front lines or occupied territories. In a bold move reported by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and detailed by The Kyiv Independent, a wave of Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital itself overnight on December 14-15. Russian air defense units scrambled to intercept the threat, reportedly shooting down at least 18 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) en route to Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry later stated that 25 drones were downed over Moscow Oblast—15 of which were heading directly for the city. In total, Russian authorities claimed to have intercepted 130 drones across the country during the night.
Residents in the Istrinsky district, about 40 kilometers west of Moscow, as well as those in Kashira and Kolomna in southern Moscow Oblast, described hearing over a dozen loud explosions. While Russian officials maintained that no casualties or damage were reported, the psychological impact was unmistakable—temporary flight restrictions were imposed at Moscow’s Zhukovsky and Domodedovo airports, echoing previous Ukrainian drone attacks that had grounded or delayed hundreds of flights. Emergency crews worked through the night to clear wreckage from the attack sites, underscoring the growing reach and disruptive potential of Ukraine’s drone arsenal.
These high-profile strikes are part of a broader Ukrainian strategy to disrupt Russian logistics, energy supplies, and military operations. As Ukrainian Business News noted, the United States views Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s so-called "shadow fleet"—tankers and logistics vessels used to circumvent Western sanctions—as a strategic lever to pressure Moscow. The Biden administration has not objected to Ukraine targeting these vessels in international waters and has at times approved the sharing of intelligence with Kyiv for operations against Russian oil infrastructure, despite acknowledging the risks such actions pose to global energy markets.
Recent weeks have seen a flurry of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy assets. On November 28, two sanctioned tankers, the Kairos and Virat, were attacked near the Bosphorus Strait. On December 10, SBU Sea Baby naval drones targeted the Dashan tanker in the Black Sea. Just two days later, Ukrainian special forces struck the Kompositor Rachmaninov and Askar-Sarydzha in the Caspian Sea—both tankers previously sanctioned by the US for transporting weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian drones also attacked Lukoil oil production platforms in the Caspian Sea twice within a week, temporarily halting operations.
The string of energy infrastructure strikes continued into mid-December. On December 12, Ukraine targeted the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in the Yaroslavl region. The following day, a recently reopened refinery in Saratov came under attack. On December 14, Ukrainian forces struck the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, causing explosions and fires, and hit the Uryupinsk oil depot in Volgograd Oblast. These attacks, confirmed by both Ukrainian and Russian sources, were part of a deliberate effort to weaken Russia’s offensive potential and disrupt its logistical supply chains.
While Ukraine pressed its advantage with drones and special operations, Russia claimed its own battlefield successes. The Russian Defense Ministry announced on December 14-15 that its forces had captured the village of Varvarovka in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. Russian troops also reported carrying out strikes against Ukrainian energy and transportation infrastructure, drone launch sites, and temporary deployment locations of Ukrainian troops and foreign fighters. Russian officials claimed to have shot down a staggering 290 Ukrainian drones over the same period—a figure that, while difficult to independently verify, highlights the intensity of the ongoing drone war.
The conflict’s economic and diplomatic ramifications are being felt in European capitals as well. On December 12, the European Union announced an indefinite freeze on Russian sovereign assets, a move designed to support Ukraine’s financial and military needs. The EU is set to discuss using these frozen assets—amounting to roughly 210 billion euros held primarily in Belgium-based Euroclear accounts—as collateral for so-called "reparation loans" to Ukraine. However, the proposal has triggered anxiety among some EU members, including Italy and Belgium, who worry about the legal and economic consequences of such a precedent. In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned the EU’s action as "a serious violation of international law," warning that Moscow would take swift retaliatory measures.
As both sides trade blows on the battlefield and in the economic arena, the war’s next phase appears poised to be shaped as much by the whir of drones and the targeting of oil depots as by traditional ground operations. With each strike, Ukraine is signaling both its capability and its intent to bring the conflict home to Russia’s heartland while also seeking to sap the resources and resolve of its adversary. The coming weeks will reveal whether these tactics can tilt the balance or provoke new escalations in a war that shows few signs of abating.
