Unarmed aircraft were taken out by air defense units in the Kuban and the Sea of Azov on August 9 at night.
Ukrainian Drone Strikes Continue to Target Russian Infrastructure
Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian infrastructure have been a recurring phenomenon, particularly in the Krasnodar Krai region. On August 7, 2025, a significant incident took place when Ukrainian drones targeted the Afipsky oil refinery near Krasnodar city, causing a fire by igniting a gas condensate processing unit.
The strike on the Afipsky oil refinery, which processes approximately 6 million metric tons of crude oil annually, highlighted the strategic importance of Krasnodar Krai as a frequent target due to its critical military infrastructure supporting Russian air operations in southern Russia and the Black Sea region.
In addition to the oil refinery, Ukrainian drones reportedly targeted a nearby military site in Slavyansk-na-Kubani during the same period. Russian defense claims indicate that many Ukrainian drones have been shot down, including on this night where 82 drones were intercepted across various Russian regions, with at least nine downed in Krasnodar.
The broader Ukrainian drone campaign in August 2025 demonstrates a pattern of repeated strikes on Russian energy and logistics hubs, including other regions such as Volgograd, Ryazan, Voronezh, and Bryansk oblasts. These coordinated attacks, led mainly by Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) and Security Service (SSU), have targeted oil refineries, fuel depots, helium refining plants critical for missile fuel production, and key railway stations supplying Russian forces.
UAV debris was found in the village of Trudobelikovskoye, located in the Krasnaya Army district. Furthermore, air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 35 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over various regions, with nine neutralized over the Bryansk region, two over the Kaluga region, and one over the Moscow region.
These ongoing Ukrainian drone strikes in Krasnodar Krai constitute a sustained effort to degrade Russian military logistics and economic infrastructure, especially targeting oil refineries like Afipsky. Despite Russian air defenses' attempts to shoot drones down, these strikes continue to produce fires and material damage, causing operational disruptions. This is part of a wider campaign targeting Russian energy and transport infrastructure that Ukraine uses to weaken Russia's war capacity.
[1] Russian Ministry of Defense press service report. [2] CNN news article. [3] BBC news article. [4] The Guardian news article. [5] Reuters news article.
- The ongoing Ukrainian drone strikes in Krasnodar Krai, as detailed in [1], [2], [3], [4], and [5], not only target Russian military infrastructure but also expand to include general news, politics, war-and-conflicts, and crime-and-justice sectors, with recent reports of Ukrainian drones targeting a nearby military site in Slavyansk-na-Kubani.
- Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense press service reports intercepting and destroying numerous drones over various regions, indicating that the broader Ukrainian drone campaign targets not only strategic military sites but also crucial civilian infrastructure such as oil refineries, which is a significant part of the economic and political landscape, aligning with the crime-and-justice and general-news categories.
