Ukrainian drone units hit multiple Russian military and infrastructure targets overnight, striking deep into occupied territories and inside Russia, according to Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS). Among the 12 confirmed targets were a fuel base in occupied Luhansk, Russian troop concentrations in Donetsk Oblast, and two posts in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Strikes reach across occupied territories
On 31 December, Brovdi reported that Ukrainian drones struck two targets in Russia and ten more in occupied Ukrainian territory. The latter included the following:
Occupied Luhansk Oblast's Rovenky:
- A fuel depot struck during a joint operation by the SBS and Ukraine’s SBU security service.
Occupied Crimea's Olenivka:
- A base of the Russian 92nd brigade of river boats.
- A Soviet-era ST-68 three-coordinate mobile radar station.
Donetsk Oblast's occupied Selydove:
- Three deployment points of the Russian special unit Rubikon-D.
- Two deployment points used by Russian personnel from the 74th motorized rifle brigade and the 589th motorized rifle regiment.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast:
- A position near occupied Melitopol struck by SBS’s Graf drone unit.
- A position near occupied Molochansk also struck by the Graf unit.
Robert Brovdi shared drone footage, showing the strikes:
Naval and radar targets in Crimea
Two notable drone hits were confirmed in Olenivka, occupied Crimea. One strike targeted the base of the Russian 92nd brigade of river boats, which was formed in 2024 and is responsible for patrolling the Kinburn and Tendra spits in Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts next to Crimea, as well as anti-diversionary defense in the outer Sevastopol raid.
The second strike in Olenivka targeted a Soviet-era mobile three-coordinate radar station, the ST-68, designed to detect and track low-altitude aerial targets.
Drone campaign continues inside Russia
It is unclear which targets inside Russia Brovdi referred to. However, two strikes were reported overnight — one on an oil depot in Yaroslavl Oblast, and another on the port and oil refinery in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai.
Ukrainian drones pound Russian oil infrastructure in Tuapse and Yaroslavl (VIDEOS, MAP)
Since Ukraine’s SBU security service unofficially claimed responsibility for the Yaroslavl strike, the two Tuapse targets were likely hit by SBS units. Or otherwise, the the Tuapse strike is considered one attack and the SBS may have taken part in the SBU's Yaroslavl strike.
