The enemy is feeling the impact of Ukraine’s deepstrikes: some components of Russian exports in August fell by 80%, the Kstovo oil refinery shut down, and russia’s Black Sea Fleet is effectively blocked in Novorossiysk. UNN examined why long-range strikes are having an increasingly strong effect on the enemy’s ability to wage war.
Following a briefing by Oleh Ivashchenko, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine’s deepstrikes—long-range strikes against russia’s military, industrial and oil facilities—were highly effective.
"Military intelligence confirms the high effectiveness of our deepstrikes, in particular against Russian military production facilities and oil-sector sites," Zelenskyy wrote.
Impact on the Russian economy
One of the most telling results concerns the Russian economy. President Zelenskyy said that the Main Intelligence Directorate had obtained internal Russian documents indicating that, in August alone, some components of exports from the aggressor country fell by 80%.
The president stressed that this means direct losses not only for russia’s federal budget, which finances the war, but also for Russian regions. According to intelligence data, part of their budgets was already on the verge of bankruptcy even without this.
Thus, the effectiveness of deepstrikes is already extending far beyond the physical destruction of an individual facility. Strikes on oil, port and logistics infrastructure undermine russia’s ability to sell resources, obtain foreign-currency revenues and replenish its budget.
The Black Sea Fleet driven into Novorossiysk
Another result of the Ukrainian strikes, recorded by the Main Intelligence Directorate, concerns the sea. The Russian side acknowledges that russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships are effectively blocked in Novorossiysk and cannot operate fully at sea.
The situation is already forcing Moscow to seek unconventional ways to protect its commercial and so-called shadow fleets. Among the options being considered by the Russian leadership are equipping civilian vessels with small arms and electronic warfare systems, as well as deploying military personnel on board.
Reduction in russia’s missile capabilities
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, a series of strikes on the "Kamensky Combine" enterprise in Rostov Region caused the Russians to lose a significant portion of their capacity to produce solid-fuel engines for missiles.
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The "Kamensky Combine" is part of Russia’s military-industrial complex and produces solid rocket fuel for Uragan, Smerch and Tornado-S MLRS munitions, as well as for other missile systems and airborne weapons.
The Defense Forces carried out repeated strikes on the enterprise during August alone. In particular, on August 24, the General Staff confirmed a new strike on the combine and a fire on its premises.
Kstovo shut down, Yaroslavl hit again
One of the main targets of Ukraine’s deepstrikes remains russia’s oil-refining industry—the source of fuel for the army and revenue for the Russian economy. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, following Ukrainian strikes, one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Region, ceased operations. The facility had a capacity of approximately 17 million tonnes of oil per year.
And on August 28, the Slavneft-YANOS Yaroslavl Oil Refinery also came under attack. Zelenskyy said that the target was located approximately 1,000 km from the front line.
The Defense Forces used, among other weapons, long-range FP-1 UAVs manufactured by Fire Point for the strike. The Yaroslavl refinery’s total capacity is approximately 15 million tonnes of oil per year. The facility produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, as well as other petroleum products.
It is known that the strike hit the AVT-3 primary oil-refining unit, with a capacity of 6.2 million tonnes per year. This represents about 40% of the facility’s total capacity. Accordingly, taking the unit offline could significantly reduce primary oil refining at the plant.
Thus, the Kstovo and Yaroslavl refineries alone have a combined capacity of approximately 32 million tonnes of oil per year. At the same time, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate, the Kstovo plant has already been shut down, while the consequences of the new strike at Yaroslavl are still being clarified.
"The lights at the thermal power plant in Kherson were defeated"
A long-range campaign is simultaneously unfolding in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. On August 28, Robert Brovdi, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported that between August 26 and 28 alone, the SBS “Ptakhy” carried out strikes against 21 power facilities and the Luhansk Thermal Power Plant in Shchastia.
The affected facilities listed include 220, 150, and 110 kV substations in the occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, and Kherson regions and Crimea, as well as a number of gas distribution stations.
According to Brovdi, since the beginning of the SBS operation “Crimean Switch off,” a total of 315 power facilities in Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories have already been targeted.