Zelenskyy declares end of Russia’s safe rear after deep strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s forces have struck every major oil refinery in Russia, declaring that Moscow no longer has a secure strategic rear, as long-range drone operations increasingly target critical infrastructure deep inside the country.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Zelenskyy said:

"We have completely eliminated the very idea of Russia having a strategic rear.

And you know this country. And for a long time, Russia believed it had a territorial advantage no one else possessed - a deep rear where it could safely keep military production, military equipment, and everything in its war defence zone, believing no one could reach them. And we have reached them.

Just yesterday, Ukrainian drones broke through Russia's defences and struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia. And this is not an exception. It's the new reality.

And there is no major oil refinery left in Russia that has not been struck by Ukraine," he said.

Zelenskyy’s remarks came a day after Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles struck an oil refinery in Omsk, in what Ukrainian officials described as a record-range attack covering approximately 2,500 kilometres in a straight line. A hit was recorded at the facility, followed by a fire.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Omsk refinery is the last of the 11 largest gasoline-producing facilities in Russia to have been targeted by Ukrainian forces. It is described as the country’s most powerful oil refining enterprise, with a capacity exceeding 21 million tonnes per year.

The refinery produces a wide range of fuels, oils and petrochemical products, and has one of the highest oil refining depth rates in Russia, at around 99%. Its output includes high-octane motor gasolines such as AI-92, AI-95 and G-Drive 100, Euro-5 diesel fuel, and aviation kerosene grades TS-1 and RT. It also manufactures benzene, paraxylene and orthoxylene, as well as specialised oils, raw materials for carbon black, and motor and industrial lubricants.

The General Staff said the Omsk refinery had been involved in supporting the needs of the Russian military.

By Tamilla Hasanova