Ukrainian strikes have hit key oil infrastructure deep inside Russia in recent days, with an oil depot in Tambov region set ablaze, fuel tanks damaged in Voronezh region, and a separate sabotage attack reported against the Druzhba oil pipeline – a route that continues to carry Russian crude to parts of the EU.

Oil depot fire in Tambov region

In the early hours of 3 December, a major fire broke out at an oil depot in the village of Dmitrievka in Russia’s Tambov region. The regional governor, Yevgeny Pervyshov, said the blaze followed the fall of debris from an unmanned aerial vehicle and that emergency services had been deployed, without specifying the extent of the damage or whether the fire had been contained.

Video shared on Russian social media channels appears to show a powerful explosion, a bright flash and subsequent large-scale fire at the facility, consistent with the destruction of one or more storage tanks. Ukrainian and Russian outlets that monitor military activity have identified the site as a Rosneft-operated oil depot.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed that more than 100 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over several regions during the night, including Tambov, and framed the incident as the result of “downed UAV fragments” rather than a successful strike – wording that has become common in official statements on such attacks.

Residents filming the fire from nearby streets can be heard praying that the flames do not spread to residential buildings, underlining the proximity of the depot to civilian areas. No casualties have so far been reported.

Fuel tanks hit in Voronezh

On the same night, drones also targeted infrastructure in Russia’s Voronezh region. The regional governor, Alexander Gusev, said four UAVs had been detected and destroyed over the city and two surrounding districts. According to his statement, debris from one drone caused minor damage to several fuel tanks at an oil facility, but no fire broke out and there were no injuries.

Ukrainian officials have not formally claimed responsibility for either the Tambov or Voronezh incidents, in line with Kyiv’s usual practice of strategic ambiguity on long-range operations inside Russia. However, Ukrainian military-linked media and intelligence-linked sources have described the overnight action as part of a broader campaign to degrade Russia’s fuel logistics and increase the cost of continuing the war.

Sabotage on Druzhba pipeline near Kazinskiye Vyselki

Separately, Ukrainian media citing security service sources report that, on the night of 1 December, a section of the Druzhba oil pipeline in Tambov region was damaged in a deliberate sabotage operation near the settlement of Kazinskiye Vyselki, on the Taganrog–Lipetsk section. Explosives with remote detonation and additional incendiary mixtures were reportedly attached directly to the pipeline, with video of the explosion said to have been recorded by the operative who planted the device.

Local residents in the area wrote on social networks that they had heard loud detonations and seen bright flashes. Russian officials have not publicly commented on this specific incident, but Ukrainian sources describe it as part of a systematic effort to target Russia’s oil transport network.

Strategic targets: fuel, logistics and morale

Analysts in Kyiv argue that oil depots in regions such as Tambov – some 400 kilometres from Ukraine – serve not only local civilian demand but also the wider Russian military machine. Fuel stored at such hubs can be used for army transport columns, rail logistics, aviation fuel, mobile generators and reserve mobilisation stocks. Strikes that destroy storage tanks or disrupt pumping operations are intended to complicate Russia’s ability to sustain large-scale operations against Ukraine.

Dmitrievka’s Nikiforov district is also situated on key road and rail routes linking central Russia with the south and south-west. An oil depot at such a junction can function as a refuelling and transshipment node for freight trains carrying equipment and supplies towards border regions such as Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov, where Russian forces are concentrated. Damage to this infrastructure can therefore have both immediate and knock-on effects on military logistics.

There is also a psychological dimension. Strikes on rear-area energy infrastructure challenge the Kremlin’s narrative that “inner Russia” remains insulated from the war. Large fires at industrial facilities, widely shared on social media, reinforce perceptions among Russian residents that air defence coverage is incomplete and that strategic sites on their own territory are vulnerable.

Pressure on Hungary and Slovakia over Druzhba

The reported sabotage near Kazinskiye Vyselki is the latest in a series of Ukrainian operations against the Druzhba pipeline network this year. Earlier attacks on pumping stations and metering facilities in Russia temporarily halted flows of crude to Hungary and Slovakia, both of which still import much of their oil via Druzhba under exemptions from EU restrictions on Russian seaborne oil.

Ukrainian commanders have publicly described Druzhba as a “strategic facility” supporting Russia’s war effort and have framed previous strikes as an attempt to reduce Moscow’s export revenues. At the same time, Hungarian officials have repeatedly criticised these operations, warning that further disruptions could affect domestic energy security and electricity exports to Ukraine.

By combining long-range drone strikes on depots in Tambov and Voronezh with covert attacks on the Druzhba network, Kyiv appears to be signalling that Russian oil infrastructure – including assets that underpin ongoing exports to EU states – will remain at risk for as long as Russia continues its campaign against Ukraine. How far this campaign will affect EU member states that still rely on Russian crude, and whether it will translate into additional political pressure on Budapest and Bratislava, remains an open question.