Ukraine hits 10 Russian targets at dawn of 2026

Friday 02 January 2026 - 09:20

By: Dakir Madiha

Ukraine hits 10 Russian targets at dawn of 2026

Ukrainian drone forces executed a synchronized assault on 10 Russian military sites and infrastructure precisely at midnight on New Year's Eve, kicking off 2026 with strikes deep inside Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territories.

Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, confirmed the first oil refinery ignited at 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2025, timed to coincide with New Year's celebrations. A second target, an oil depot, followed three to five minutes later. The operation struck five facilities in temporarily occupied areas and five within Russia proper.

The general staff and Brovdi's reports detailed hits on the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, where fires erupted but were later contained. This plant processes up to 6.6 million tons of crude annually, fueling Russian military hardware. Drones also targeted an oil loading terminal in Almetyevsk, Tatarstan Republic, some 1,400 kilometers from Ukraine.

In occupied Luhansk, strikes hit the Rovenky oil depot, previously damaged by Ukrainian forces. Attacks destroyed a KASTA-2E2 radar system at Hvardiiske in Crimea, vital for air space control and target identification. A radar post at Hvardiiske's combat aviation airfield—where Russia readies Iskander-M missiles and Shahed drones—was also neutralized.

Ukrainian drones eliminated a TOR anti-aircraft system in occupied Donetsk, the third such unit downed on December 31 by the Asgard battalion of the 412th Nemesis Brigade. Earlier that day, the same unit took out a Buk-M3 and a Tor-M2 within an hour on the Huliaipole and Orikhiv fronts.

Coordinated by the 1st Separate Unmanned Systems Forces Center with the Graf unit, the operation further targeted two Russian troop concentrations and a fuel depot at Valuyki in Belgorod region, plus the Balashivka substation in occupied Zaporizhzhia.

Russia countered that night with over 200 attack drones aimed at Ukrainian energy infrastructure across multiple regions. President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the barrage, accusing Moscow of deliberately extending its war into the new year.