The Ukrainian drone strikes are a military act of asymmetric warfare involving the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) by Ukraine's military and intelligence services to attack strategic targets deep inside Russian territory and Russian-occupied Crimea. This concept is a key component of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present).
The strikes originated as a counter-measure following Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Ukraine began increasingly using long-range drones for deep strikes into Russia, with the goal of disrupting Russian logistics, military-industrial capacity, and bringing the consequences of the war to the Russian population. The problem solved is the ability to strike high-value targets far from the front lines, compensating for Ukraine's lack of long-range cruise missiles.
The mechanism primarily involves one-way attack drones (OWA-UAVs), often referred to as "kamikaze drones," which are relatively cheap and include domestically produced models like the UJ-22 Airborne, FP-1 Firepoint, and Bars-SM Gladiator. The strikes target the military, arms industry, and oil industry, with key objectives being Russian oil refineries (e.g., Ryazan, Tatneft), air bases (e.g., Engels, Morozovsk), and logistics hubs like railway stations and vessels of Russia's "shadow fleet". This strategy aims to stretch Russian air defenses and inflict strategic economic damage, such as knocking out up to 40 percent of Russia's refining capacity by September 2026.
The concept connects directly to the broader use of drones in modern warfare for surveillance, intelligence gathering, and strikes, and is related to the military doctrine of Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD/DEAD). The strikes have changed recently, intensifying significantly, with over 43,300 Ukrainian drones reportedly intercepted over Russia and Crimea in the summer of 2026, compared to about 7,700 in the same period in 2025. This escalation has pushed Russia's oil refining capacity to its lowest level since 2002 in August 2026, forcing the Kremlin to roll back environmental standards and import emergency petrol.