In a dramatic escalation of cross-border hostilities, Ukrainian drone strikes targeted multiple oil depots and strategic facilities inside Russia on the night of December 3, 2025, igniting fires and raising fresh questions about the vulnerability of Russian energy infrastructure. The attacks—confirmed by Ukrainian and Russian authorities alike—struck deep into the Tambov and Voronezh regions, with significant damage reported at key storage sites supplying the Russian military.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the strikes were part of a coordinated effort to undermine the “military-economic potential” of the Russian Federation and pressure Moscow to end its armed aggression. Ukrainian Defense Forces announced they had hit the Dmitriyevskaya oil depot in Russia’s Tambov region, a facility known to supply fuel to the Russian occupation army. The strike triggered a fire, with several fuel storage tanks reportedly burning. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but preliminary reports indicate a significant disruption at the site.
Russian regional officials corroborated key details. Tambov Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov acknowledged on Telegram that a fire broke out at an oil depot in the region following what he described as the “fall of drone fragments.” He emphasized, “Fire crews and law enforcement arrived at the site quickly. All necessary forces and resources have been deployed.” While Pervyshov refrained from identifying the depot or specifying casualties, open-source analysts from Supernova+ and Ukrainian monitoring channels pinpointed the target as the Nikiforovskaya oil depot operated by Tambovnefteprodukt in the settlement of Dmitriyevka, roughly 45 kilometers from Tambov. This facility, now part of Rosneft after a recent merger, boasts 14 storage tanks with a combined capacity of 10,440 cubic meters, primarily for diesel fuel.
Videos shot by local residents showed flames spreading across the depot, with thick smoke billowing into the night sky—a scene that quickly circulated on social media and fueled speculation about the scale of the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry, while reporting the interception and destruction of 102 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian territory that night, notably omitted any reference to the Tambov incident in its official statements. Nevertheless, the damage in Tambov was widely acknowledged by regional authorities and independent analysts.
Simultaneously, a second drone strike targeted an oil depot in Russia’s Voronezh region. Governor Alexander Gusev reported that several fuel tanks sustained “minor damage” from the fall of a downed UAV, but stressed that no fire erupted and there were no casualties. “In one of the districts, several fuel tanks were slightly damaged as a result of the fall of a downed UAV. No ignition occurred,” Gusev said, according to Russian media Astra. Air-defense units in Voronezh and nearby districts claimed to have detected and destroyed four drones during the night, though the governor did not specify which fuel facility was involved.
These attacks were not isolated incidents. Ukrainian forces also struck a technical observation post on the MSP-4 offshore stationary platform in the Black Sea. Preliminary information from the Ukrainian General Staff suggests that a Russian UAV crew was destroyed and a surface radar system on the “Sivash” self-elevating floating drilling rig was damaged. The full results of these strikes are still being clarified, but they highlight a growing pattern of Ukrainian efforts to degrade Russian surveillance and logistics capabilities far from the conventional frontlines.
Further compounding Russia’s woes, Ukrainian Defense Forces confirmed that on December 2, 2025, they struck the Livny oil depot in Russia’s Oryol region. This attack ignited fires in two RV-5000 fuel tanks, again disrupting a key node in Russia’s fuel supply network. The depot, owned by Rosneft, is located around 140 kilometers southeast of Oryol and plays a pivotal role in regional fuel distribution.
Perhaps most notably, Ukrainian strikes have also targeted high-value Russian military assets. On November 27, 2025, three Russian Orion reconnaissance-strike drones were destroyed during an attack on the Saky airfield in Novofedorivka, in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukrainian Crimea. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, each Orion drone is valued at approximately $5 million, features a wingspan of 16.3 meters, and can remain airborne for up to 24 hours. The destruction of these drones, which serve both reconnaissance and strike roles, represents a serious blow to Russia’s operational capabilities in the region.
The cumulative effect of these attacks is clear: Ukraine is intent on striking at the logistical and economic underpinnings of Russia’s war effort. As the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated, “The Defense Forces are taking measures to undermine the military-economic potential of the Russian occupiers and force the Russian Federation to cease its armed aggression against Ukraine.” This strategy, targeting not just front-line positions but also deep infrastructure, marks a significant evolution in the conflict’s dynamics.
Russian authorities have responded with a mix of acknowledgement and deflection. While regional officials in Tambov and Voronezh have confirmed damage and fires, they often attribute the incidents to “the fall of drone fragments” rather than direct hits, perhaps in an effort to downplay the precision and effectiveness of Ukrainian strikes. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry’s emphasis on the number of intercepted drones seeks to reassure the public and project a sense of control, even as evidence mounts of successful Ukrainian penetrations.
For their part, Ukrainian officials have been more forthcoming about the intent behind these operations. By targeting oil depots, UAV crews, and radar systems, Kyiv aims to sap the resources and morale of Russian forces, potentially hastening an end to the conflict. The choice of targets—critical fuel depots, advanced drones, and surveillance assets—underscores a strategic calculus designed to maximize impact while minimizing risk to Ukrainian personnel.
As winter sets in and both sides brace for renewed offensives, the latest strikes highlight the evolving nature of modern warfare, where drones and precision attacks on infrastructure play an ever-greater role. The message from Kyiv is unmistakable: nowhere, not even deep within Russia’s own borders, is beyond reach.
With fires still smoldering in Tambov and Livny, and the wreckage of destroyed drones littering airfields in Crimea, the reverberations of these strikes will be felt for weeks to come—both on the battlefield and in the corridors of power.
