Ukraine Situation Report: Large Two-Pronged Drone Attack Struck Russian Refinery, Airbase

Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out a large-scale drone attack in Russia on Monday, striking an oil refinery and an airfield with a total of more than 80 drones, Ukraine’s intelligence chief told The War Zone.

Video emerged on social media showing Ukrainian drones attacking the Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, and the Morosovsk Air Base in Rostov Oblast some 320 miles to the northeast.

“Tuapse was our main target,” Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of GUR, told The War Zone. He added that Morosovsk was a joint operation. GUR used about 20 drones to attack the refinery and there were about 65 drones used in the joint operation on the air base. The attack was carried out by a mix of Beaver and Lutiy drones, Budanov explained.

Video from the Tuapse strike published Monday on the Russian SHOT Telegram channel showed a Ukrainian drone approaching the Rosneft facility and then diving into it before erupting into a ball of flames.

A second video shows a plume of grey smoke rising up out of the strike location at Tuapse, Rosneft’s fourth-largest refinery located around 300 miles from the front lines.

There were conflicting reports about the extent of the damage.

“We are checking,” Budanov told us about a battle damage assessment at both targets.

The region’s leader claimed eight drones were shot down.

“No damage to infrastructure or residential buildings was detected, no casualties,” he said, according to the Russian SHOT Telegram channel.

The official Russian RIA Novosti news outlet reported on its Telegram channel that the facility suffered minor damage.

“The infrastructure of the Tuapse refinery was damaged as a result of falling UAV debris, specialists extinguished the fire, there were no casualties, the operational headquarters reported,” the publication reported.

The Tuapse refinery has been struck before, including in another massive drone strike in May that resulted in explosions and fires. You can see video from that attack below which closely resembles today’s attack:

The Monday strike on Tuapse sparked outrage from the influential Russian Two Majors Telegram channel about the lack of air defenses at the refinery.

“In the footage of Tuapse, the same route of entry of ukrodrones for six months,” Two Majors chided. “This is already a real monument to Russian bureaucracy, indecision, and fear of responsibility. We won’t even describe here the ridiculous measures that the oil depot took within the framework of the legislation that fetters them hand and foot.”

“You either make serious responsible decisions by allowing people to shoot, including hired private security companies, strengthening them with normal means and relieving them of responsibility if a downed drone falls somewhere, or we are left without oil refining in the south of the country,” Two Majors continued. “And right away, for those whose mother is a genius, the Chinese anti-drone ‘gun’”’ will do absolutely nothing to such a drone. Only ZU-23-2, various points with heavy machine guns, MANPADS. And a clear system of interaction, built not by idiots, for early detection.”

Videos also emerged on social media showing Ukrainian drones approaching Morosovsk Air Base, as well as the purported aftermath which showed flames and smoke at the airfield from a distance. The base is home to dozens of Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers that have been a key weapon in the war, and serves as a forward operating base for other Flanker derivatives.

“Massive UAV attack today in the Rostov region – the drones flew towards the Morosovsk airfield, in the area of ​​which a fire then occurred,” the This Is Rostov News Telegram channel reported.

“Tonight in the north of the Rostov region, air defense forces suppressed and destroyed 47 UAVs,” Rostov Gov. Vasily Golubev said on Telegram. “No one was injured as a result of the falling debris. Dry vegetation caught fire in several areas; all landscape fires were promptly extinguished by duty crews.”

Low-resolution satellite image before and after the attack obtained by The War Zone shows fire damage to various parts of the installation, including between the main apron and the runway and in various other spots in the western and central areas of the airfield.

Data from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) indicated fire on the eastern section of the base, near the runway and apron.

The Kremlin-connected Rybar Telegram channel said there was damage at Morosovsk.

“The main blow fell on the Rostov region (47 UAVs), where the first UAVs were recorded after midnight,” according to Rybar. “The main target of the raid was the airfield in Morosovsk. Almost all the drones were shot down; several, unfortunately, ended up in a fuel and lubricants warehouse, causing a fire.”

This is the third time since April that Morosovsk came under a massive Ukrainian drone attack. Last month, the base was the target of about 70 drones, Budanov told us at the time.

From our story about that attack: “The images we obtained from Planet Labs show the covering of the base’s only multi-aircraft shelter, located on a maintenance apron, was blasted open, revealing two Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers inside. These aircraft likely suffered some degree of damage. This hangar would have been a top target for Ukrainian drones.  A short distance away, what appears to be a small crater and scorch marks can be seen on the apron. It is hard to tell if any aircraft were damaged, but this is where multiple jets are usually parked.”

The following imagery shows how the air field looked after the April attack, clearly showing damage.

Rybar echoed Two Majors’ umbrage over the lack of air defenses, bemoaned a dearth of protective shelters, and lashed out at Russian officials.

“Enemy attacks with relatively inexpensive drones continue over and over again. For the second time in two days, fatal damage to both military equipment and energy facilities was avoided. However, hits happen again and again,” Rybar complained. “The slowness of the system seriously affects defensive capabilities. We again note the entry of the UAV along the same trajectory into the refinery without any significant impact and again note the absence of hangars for aircraft.”

“It would seem that it’s so difficult?” Rybar asked rhetorically. “Hangars and shelters are much cheaper than repairing or building a new aircraft, and installing a ZU-23 on a pickup truck is much easier than losing refinery capacity. Maybe there is something we don’t know or understand. I would like at least some reasonable arguments, but, of course, there are none.”

Rybar’s railing included concerns about a Ukrainian drone attack two days ago on another air base in Russia.

Russia’s Millerovo Air Base in Rostov Oblast came under a Ukrainian drone attack Saturday, according to Russian officials and Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels.

“The drones flew very low and were shot down,” This Is Rostov Telegram channel reported. “A total of 26 were shot down, and then a fire broke out in the airfield area.”

Video emerged on social media showing the drones approaching and fire purportedly on the airfield.

“Local residents report a UAV and that more than 16 explosions were heard in the area of ​​the Millerovo airfield, near the settlement of Dolotinka, and explosions also occurred in the area of ​​the oil depot,” the Ukrainian Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported.

Russian officials acknowledge the attack occurred but say there was no damage or injuries.

“In total, last night air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 26 UAVs in the Rostov region,” Golubev said Saturday on his Telegram channel. “There were no casualties as a result of the attack. Emergency services rushed to the site where the UAV debris fell.”

Satellite imagery obtained by The War Zone and seen below shows the airfield did show some damage from the attack.

NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) indicates that there were fires on the runway, apron and sections of the airfield south of the runway.

The airfield, located less than 20 miles from the border with Ukraine, is home to Su-30SM Flanker multi-role fighter of the 31st Fighter Aviation Regiment as well as Su-35 Flanker-E fighters. The base has come under attack before, beginning just after the start of the all-out invasion.

These latest strikes are a continuation of Ukraine’s targeting of energy infrastructure and air bases inside Russia. The former is in response to repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system and the latter hitting bases from which Russia launches attacks.

Budanov vows they will continue. His directorate on Monday released video of its drone strike unit in action.

Before diving into more developments from the conflict in Ukraine, The War Zone readers can review our previous coverage here.

The Latest

On the battlefield, Russia continues to push across several fronts with limited positional changes, according to the latest Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessment.

• Kharkiv: Russian forces continued localized offensive operations north and northeast of Kharkiv City but did not advance. Russian forces reportedly attacked north of Kharkiv City near Hlyboke and northeast of Kharkiv City in Vovchansk, and Ukrainian forces reportedly counterattacked near Hlyboke.

• Luhansk: Russian forces reportedly advanced along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline in this area on July 21. “Geolocated footage indicated that Russian forces recently seized Pishchane,” ISW reported.

• Donetsk: Russian forces continued ground attacks in the Siversk direction and near Chasiv Yar and Donetsk as well as west and southwest of Donetsk City but there were no confirmed changes to the front lines.  Russian forces recently advanced southwest of Avdiivka amid continued Russian offensive operations west of Avdiivka on July 21.

• Zaporizhzhia Oblast: Positional engagements continued in western Zaporizhia Oblast near Robotyne, northeast of Robotyne near Mala Tokmachka, north of Robotyne near Novodanylivka, and northwest of Robotyne near Shcherbaky.

• Kherson Oblast: Positional engagements continued on the left bank of the Dnipro River, including near Krynky and Kozachi Laheri.

Outnumbered by the Russians and enduring a shortage of short-range air defense munitions, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said his troops need to rely on alternative means to defeat their enemy.

“What can and should we do to stop the advance of the numerically superior enemy?” he asked on his Telegram channel on Monday. “There is only one answer: effective fire damage to the main forces of the enemy and his reserves on distant approaches, complex damage to the enemy in front of the front edge, stable holding of lines and positions prepared in terms of engineering, maximally effective use of all the capabilities of weapons and ammunition, primarily combat drones, in which we have [an advantage],” he wrote.

In addition, Ukraine must master “new methods of destroying the enemy’s reconnaissance UAVs in conditions of a total shortage of short-range anti-aircraft missiles, only using [Electronic Warfare] EW and [First-Person View] FPV drones.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his gratitude for all the support provided by U.S. President Joe Biden, who announced Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid.

Since Biden took office, the U.S. has committed more than $54.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including more than $53.7 billion since the beginning of Russia’s full-on invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to the Pentagon.

On Friday, he spoke with Donald Trump, expressing shock at the July 14 assassination attempt and congratulating him his nomination as the Republican party presidential candidate.

A day earlier, he visited the United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer at No. 10 Downing Street.

During their meeting, Zelensky pushed Starmer to “show your leadership” by helping to remove restrictions on how Ukraine can use weapons supplied by its Western allies, the BBC reported.

Zelensky told a cabinet meeting that the ability to hit Russian territory would help prevent attacks on residential areas in Ukraine, according to BBC. It was the first time a foreign leader addressed the cabinet in person since U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1997.

Pressed on the subject earlier, Defense Secretary John Healey said the UK’s provision of weapons to Ukraine “does not preclude them hitting targets in Russia,” adding that it “must be done by the Ukrainians and must be done within the parameters and the bounds of international humanitarian law.”

Starmer promised to “double down” on support for Ukraine and told Zelensky the “political resolve to stand with Ukraine was not just in Parliament, but across this country,” according to BBC.

Despite assurances on July 10 that F-16 Vipers were being transferred to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands, Zelensky told the BBC Thursday that they had yet to arrive.

“It’s been 18 months and the planes have not reached us,” he told the network, adding he was thankful for what Ukraine had been given.

However, he emphasized that jets were essential to help Ukrainians push back against Russia’s aerial dominance and “unblock the skies.”

Zelensky also told the network that dealing with Trump if he is re-elected will be “hard work, but we are hard workers,” adding that he was willing to work with anyone in power in the U.S. The exclusive interview with Zelensky took place before Biden’s withdrawal announcement.

Just days before that interview, Trump announced Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. The 39-year-old has previously said, “he doesn’t care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”

The nomination has renewed fears that the U.S. commitment to Ukraine could be greatly diminished if Trump is returned to the White House.

During the interview, Zelensky also broached the idea of peace talks that didn’t include a complete return to the borders established in 1991.

“It doesn’t mean that all territories are won back by force. I think the power of diplomacy can help,” he said, adding that a weaker Russia on the battlefield would put Ukraine in a stronger position on the negotiating table. “By putting pressure on Russia, I think it is possible to agree to a diplomatic settlement.”

As we noted earlier this month, Chinese and Belarusian troops conducted a joint exercise in Belarus dubbed “Attacking Falcon.”

The high point of the combined maneuvers, which included a nighttime parachute drop, was an assault on Wednesday to “recapture” an airport that had been taken over by terrorists, according to the Kyiv Post.

The publication reported that the drill was held near the city of Brest, close to Poland and just 28 kilometers (17 miles) from Ukraine.

“According to the Belarus defense ministry account the airport operation saw the troops deploying drones to surveil the enemy positions before paratroopers deployed in armored Mi-8MTV-5 helicopters and joined up with ground forces to secure the objective.”

Cadets from the Ukrainian Institute of Military-Navy Forces are taking part in a naval internship aboard the Polish training ship ORP Wodnik.

“Together with Polish colleagues, they master the skills of navigation, astronavigation, hydrometeorology, and maneuvering, familiarize themselves with the organization of the ship according to NATO standards, the basic technical means of the ship, and sharpen their English,” the institute stated on its Facebook page.

The Wodnik “is designed to perform durable swimming and educational expeditions. Thousands of cadets of the Naval Academy and the School of the Senior Staff of the Polish Navy studied there.”

The ship took part in Operation Desert Storm, serving as a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf in 1991.  Its crewmembers were awarded a medal by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thanking them for their efforts.

Ukrainian troops compiled a video showing the deadly, chaotic nature of trench warfare, where the fighting is up close.

Meanwhile, urban warfare is equally frenzied, as you can see in the following video compiled by Ukrainian special operations forces (SOF) conducting house-to-house fighting in what remains of the Donetsk Oblast city of Chasiv Yar.

Ukrainian troops shrugged off a rocket-propelled grenade strike on their trench, saying the 1,100-pound Russian FAB-500 aerial bomb “hits harder.”

Heavy fighting continues near that city as Russian troops continue to push toward its center.

Among its other missions, troops from the Ukrainian 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade are tasked with keeping the Russians from advancing across a key highway between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast to protect important supply lines open. They say the U.S.-supplied Bradley Fighting Vehicles are making a huge difference in that fight as they take on tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

“I’ve lost a few,” said one soldier about the Bradleys. “Not on purpose of course. If it wasn’t for the vehicle, an angel would have met me more than once.”

The U.S. has provided Ukraine with more than 300 Bradleys, of which at least 44 have been destroyed, 24 damaged, 21 damaged and abandoned, and four damaged and captured, according to the Oryx open-source tracking group. That figure could be higher because Oryx only tabulates losses for which it has visual confirmation.

The 47th released a video showing what it claims is the destruction of a Russian Zemledeliye remote mine-laying vehicle.

“Zemlideliye fires ammunition for remote delivery of mines,” the brigade explained on its Telegram channel. “With one volley, the installation can mine an area equal to several football fields. Instead, thanks to the Ukrainian defenders, it flew into the air…”

A Russian drone attacked a World Central Kitchen (WCK) armored G Wagon with an explosive device in Donetsk Oblast, the organization said.

“On Thursday, July 18, a clearly marked World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid vehicle was struck by a Russian short-range explosive device fired by a drone as the armored truck was returning from a food delivery mission in the vicinity of Oleksandrivka, Ukraine,” WCK said in a statement. “Thankfully, no injuries are reported. Our driver was unharmed and there were no passengers. It is unclear if the WCK vehicle was specifically targeted by Russia.”

WCK “has served more than 260 million meals to families in frontline communities as well as first responders in Ukraine. In the past two years of working in Ukraine, seven WCK volunteers have been killed by Russian military strikes. We also lost seven members of our WCK team in April when an Israeli military airstrike targeted our humanitarian convoy in Gaza.”

Chechen soldiers are returning to fight on the front lines, the U.K. Defense Ministry stated.

Those soldiers, who captured their own antics on numerous videos led them to be dubbed “TikTok Troops,” had been relegated to rear echelon guard duty after being repeatedly routed, the U.K. MoD explained. Given massive Russian losses, however, they are once again in the thick of the battle as well as training other troops.

“Around 42,000 Russian soldiers have been trained by a Chechnya university since 2022,” the MoD said, citing Chechen leadership. “With only 10 days [of] training likely its effectiveness is in doubt. The use of Chechen TikTok soldiers on the frontlines and to train Russian soldiers illustrates the desperation and resource strain within the Russian military.”

It takes a good deal of work to fashion drone-droppable munitions. The following video shows members of Ukraine’s 100th Mechanized Brigade preparing KZ-6 and other ordnance for those missions. The KZ-6 is a Soviet-era munition capable of damaging most armored vehicles. It contains about four pounds of explosives.

Ukrainian soldiers are also working to convert M-6 mortars for drone dropping.

The Ukrainian troops in the following video show how they prepare an explosive charge droppable by a Ukrainian Vampire drone, which has thermal imaging allowing day and night operations. It is also known as a Baba Yaga, a reference to a mythical Slavic witch. They take an M-62M anti-tank mine body and add several chainsaw chains for a fragmentation effect. The drone drops the mine, which reportedly has an explosive force of nearly 17 pounds of TNT.

There is also a VAMPIRE weapon system that kills drones. The following onboard video from a U.S.-supplied VAMPIRE counter-drone system shows one of its laser-guided 70mm rockets destroying a Russian Shahed-136 long-range attack drone.

The video shows the system locking on the target, and then the effector flying toward it before impacting and blowing it out of the sky.

This effort by Russian troops to shoot down a First-Person View (FPV) drone chasing them did not appear to work in their favor. In the video below, you can see the drone rapidly approaching the Russian troops, who fire shotguns in a vain attempt to destroy the approaching menace. The video ends with the vehicle overturning and its remnants engulfed in flames.

Thanks to an ‘anonymous donor’ from Shanghai, China, Russia has boxes of new FPV drones, goggles and controllers.

Russia once again turned to smoke screens as a way of obfuscating troop movements in an age of ubiquitous drone surveillance. The latest iteration of this method involves strapping a smoke bomb onto the back of a motorcycle. In the drone video below, you can see the motorcyclist tearing down roads, leaving a trail of thick grey smoke behind him. The smoke would blind any electro-optical cameras and could defeat some infrared cameras depending on the exact chemical and physical composition of the screen.”

How successful this was remains unknown, because the video cuts off before any troop movements or corresponding reaction can be seen.

This war has laid waste to scores of Ukrainian cities, like Pivniche in Donetsk Oblast. The images below show block after block of destroyed and in some cases still-smoldering buildings.

Russian cities too are feeling the sting brought by Putin’s war. However, it is orders of magnitude less destructive than cities like Pivniche.. Murom was once home to 1,500 residents. Located two miles from the border, it is now a ghost town after coming under repeated Ukrainian attacks. The video below shows empty homes, some with broken windows and nothing like the scale of devastation seen across the border.

And finally, this Ukrainian trench feline is no scaredy cat.

That’s it for now.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com