Built in the shadows and launched at night, Ukraine’s long-range drones are rattling Russia

AP News ^ | Updated 8:07 AM CDT, October 31, 2025 | DEREK GATOPOULOS and VOLODYMYR YURCHUK

[E. Pluribus Unum]

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At a secret location in rural Ukraine, columns of attack drones are assembled at night and in near silence to strike deep inside Russia.

Their targets are strategic: oil refineries, fuel depots, and military logistics hubs. Since the summer, Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign has ramped up dramatically, pounding energy infrastructure across Russia and stretching Moscow’s air defenses thin.

Built from parts made in a scattered network of workshops, these drones now fly much further than at any point in the war.

Officers in body armor move with quick precision; headlamps glow red to stay hidden. Engines sputter like old motorcycles as exhaust fumes drift into the moonless night. Minutes later, one after another, the drones lift from a makeshift runway and head east. The strikes have caused gasoline shortages in Russia, even forcing rationing in some regions and underscoring a growing vulnerability in the country’s infrastructure. Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said Friday that more than 160 successful strikes had been carried out against Russia’s oil extraction and refining facilities so far this year.

Drones hammer refineries

Western analysts say the attacks on energy infrastructure so far have had a serious — but not crippling — effect. Ukrainian drones have repeatedly hit 16 major Russian refineries, representing about 38% of the country’s nominal refining capacity, according to a recent review by the Carnegie Endowment, a U.S.-based think tank.

But it argues the actual impact has been considerably more limited: most plants resumed operations within weeks, and Russia’s refining output has been cushioned by idle capacity and existing fuel surpluses.

The deep strikes have, however, given Kyiv the initiative at an important moment. The United States and...

[cloudmountain]

This warms, ah say, warms the cockles of mah heart.

Putin is a pimp; always was, always will be.

[sauropod]

bkmk

[kiryandil]

Thanks for keeping us informed about the latest Ukie propaganda from Associated Pravda.

[kiryandil]

IABTFD - In After Bookshelf The Freeploading Deadbeat

[bakeneko]

In other news:

Assembled in scattered factories all over Germany, Hitler’s fascist industrialists scramble to assemble vengeance missile weapons to attack the economies of their enemies.

[HandyDandy]

Bomb the bearing factories!

[alexander_busek]

Thanks for keeping us informed about the latest Ukie propaganda from Associated Pravda.

You're right, of course, kiryandil: There are no Ukrainian drones being launched, nor are any Russian petroleum facilities being targeted. Those are mere figments of someone's overly-excited imagination. Ukraine has no armaments industry. Russian gasoline production has not diminished by even only a gallon. There have been no fuel scarcities in Russia, not even only regionally.

And the weekly chocolate ration has been raised to 25 grams!

Regards,

[kiryandil]

Gads, I didn’t miss your obnoxious little tail in the slightest.

Your AI bot marcusmaximus is longing for some training from you. Go interact, hey?

And go slurp up some more lying Western Media, why don’t ya?

[kiryandil]

Germany races to secure US sanctions exemption for Rosneft refineries
http://www.ft.com/content/0d9a5946-1cb6-4c0b-aa5b-7f5383dedef7

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

What an interesting post.

---- "...a secret location...."

If the article is true, then the AP reporters writing this would not know about it.

The writers, according to A, are 1) "Gatopoulos is an Associated Press reporter covering Greece. He is based in Athens'" and 2) Volodymyr Yurchuk, who AP does not so easily identify. He is apparently in Ukraine. Therefore, this information of of Ukrainian origin.

The bottom of the article tells "Associated Press journalists Hanna Arhirova, Illia Novikov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Dmytro Zhyhinas and Alex Babenko [ video maker ] contributed to this report from Ukraine." So in all, six Ukrainians with a Greek as lead writer.

About manufacturing in "a secret location."

It seems the message is the last paragraph.

"On the ground, each mission is a study in tradeoffs. Fewer than 30% of drones even reach the target area, so meticulous planning is essential, said Fidel, who reflected on the human cost. 'War has fallen to our generation so that we can fight for our kids and they can live in a free democratic country,' he said. 'We are currently obtaining experience that will be used by every country in the world, and we are paying the price with our lives and the lives of our friends'.”

A source is mentioned four times, "Fidel," though no complete ID. This is certainly messaging, more than reporting. And -- sshhh -- it's a secret.

[kiryandil]

2025/10/02
Oct 2, 2025 — Verivox calculations for Bild showed that a family of four paid about €6,000 ($7,000) more for electricity and gas since 2022 than they would

[alexander_busek]

In other news: Assembled in scattered factories all over Germany, Hitler’s fascist industrialists scramble to assemble vengeance missile weapons to attack the economies of their enemies.

Your weak attempt at sarcasm fails on multiple levels, and reveals your abject misunderstanding of both WWII history and current events:

1. One cannot "assemble" at "scattered" sites: That's a self-contradiction.
2. Hitler's "vengeance weapons" were exactly that: Vengeance weapons intended to terrorize civilian populaces - not damage economic infrastructure. (They were far too inaccurate to target specific industrial facilities, and were thus suitable only to rocket-bomb entire cities.)
3. Putin's missiles routinely target purely civilian centers - residential areas, hospitals, etc. Putin can thus rightly be compared with Hitler. In contrast, the Ukrainian drones described in this article are targeting petroleum infrastructure, and so can hardly be characterized as "vengeance" weapons.
4. Putin started this war by launching an all-out invasion of Ukraine, and subsequently attempted to annex vast swathes of Ukrainian territory. Putin is the obvious aggressor here, and so is the one acting like Hitler.

Your facile comparison thus fails on all accounts! You may go back to your attic room now: The next feeding time isn't for another six hours.

Regards,

[alexander_busek]

Oct 2, 2025 — Verivox calculations for Bild showed that a family of four paid about €6,000 ($7,000) more for electricity and gas since 2022 than they would

Let me complete that sentence: "Than they would have had Putin not unnecessarily launched the biggest and bloodiest military invasion / war of aggression in Europe since WWII."

Innocent Ukrainian women and children are dying because of Putin's blood-lust - and you are complaining about energy prices!

Unbelievable!

Regards,

[kiryandil]

Julian Röpcke🇺🇦
@JulianRoepcke
Oct 18
Nix Tomahawk, nix Taurus, nix Friedenstruppen, nix Sprit-Kollaps, Russen 20 Kilometer tief im Gebiet Dnipropetrowsk und im Zentrum von Pokrowsk.
Die positive Stimmung der letzten vier Monate, die die Soldaten an der Front und auch ich gefühlt haben, löst sich nach und nach auf …
Oct 18, 2025 · 6:53 AM UTC

The German phrase “nix Sprit-Kollaps” translates to “no fuel collapse” in English. A more conversational translation would be “no gas/petrol collapse” or “no fuel shortage.”

[kiryandil]

Shut and pay, Dummkopf

[kiryandil]

Like a rash, busek is back, and just as annoying as before.

[kiryandil]

and you are complaining about energy prices

No - laughing at you as you peel off more Euros to pay your energy bills, stupid...

[alexander_busek]

Like a rash, busek is back, and just as annoying as before.

Lacking any credible arguments or substantive logic, kiryandil resorts to schoolyard ad hominems.

Pitiful!

Regards,

[kiryandil]

Anything you say, Buffoon.