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Ukraine created drone army one year ago. It already destroyed $40 billion worth in Russian targets

10 June 2026 at 19:53

Semikolodezyanska oil depot in Yedi-Quyu (Lenine), occupied Crimea, amid a Ukrainian drone attack. Screenshot from video: Ukraine's Special Operations Forces

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) have struck Russian targets worth nearly $40 billion in the year since the branch's creation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. On 10 June, the Ukrainian president signed a decree establishing the Day of Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS Day).

The $40 billion cumulative damage figure Zelenskyy cited represents a 57% increase over the $25.5 billion in cumulative Russian losses that Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported in April 2026.

The SBS Day decree institutionalizes the unmanned forces as a permanent feature of Ukraine's military doctrine, alongside the army, navy, and air force.

What Zelenskyy said about SBS's achievements

"Only a year since the creation of the SBS group, Russian targets at various levels worth nearly $40 billion have already been hit," Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

He added that SBS is really a model for many other armies, and "these months we are especially grateful for middlestrikes."

"Russian military logistics across the entire depth of the temporarily occupied territory is now accessible to Ukrainian drones. The Russian border zone also experiences our impact," he stated.

The president added that Russia already feels the effect of these strikes, and Ukraine will continue to scale them.

"The most important thing is that these are different types of strikes, and each one adds to our ability to save lives," the Ukrainian president added.

What does middlestrike mean operationally? 

The middlestrike concept Zelenskyy invoked refers to Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian military logistics in the depth of occupied territory and across the Russian border zone. The depth zone covers Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. The Russian border zone reaches Belgorod and Kursk. Middlestrikes sit between the very-long-range deep strikes against strategic Russian infrastructure, such as the Volgograd refineries, and the tactical frontline FPV operations. The SBS is led by Brigadier General Robert Brovdi, call sign "Madiar".

Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has now lasted exactly as long as World War I — 1,568 days

10 June 2026 at 08:32

Ukrainian troops fire a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer. Autumn 2022, Ukraine. Photo: ArmyInform

Today, 10 June 2026, marks the 1,568th day of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine — exactly the same number of days that World War I lasted, ArmyInform observes. Russia has not achieved its strategic objectives to eliminate Ukraine, with the Kremlin's original "Kyiv in three days" planning now four years and three months past.

Russian losses across that period, as documented by Ukraine's General Staff, total more than 1.3 million Russian military personnel killed and wounded, tens of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces destroyed, and 33 Russian ships and boats sunk or destroyed.

The Black Sea Fleet is now operating only in a land-support capacity after Ukrainian strikes forced its retreat from operating bases in temporarily occupied Crimea.

The total cost of destroyed Russian equipment over four years is estimated at approximately $153 billion. May 2026 alone saw more than 31,500 Russian troops killed and seriously wounded, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. These figures are Ukrainian estimates. Russian casualty data is not publicly released.

Strategic ledger after four years

Russia's stated strategic objectives at the start of the February 2022 full-scale invasion, including the capture of Kyiv, the change of Ukrainian government, the demilitarization and "denazification" of Ukraine, and the establishment of a Russian-aligned regime in the Ukrainian capital, have not been reached.

Russian forces retreated from the northern Kyiv and Chernihiv axes in spring 2022, and although Russia has incrementally occupied additional territory in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts since then, the pace of advance has been limited. 

Ukrainian fire control and deep-strike expansion

On the Ukrainian operational side, the past 12 months have seen a significant expansion of Ukraine's ability to strike targets across occupied territory and Russian rear areas.

The Ukrainian Defense Forces have established fire control over key logistics nodes in temporarily occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and in Crimea, including bringing Donetsk Airport within range of regular strikes and striking the Chonhar Bridge. 

In Crimea specifically, where Russia has concentrated air defense systems, 12 Russian Pantsir-S1 systems have been destroyed since the start of 2026. 

Logistics Lockdown and 1,800-kilometer deep-strike envelope

These operations are conducted within Ukraine's $113 million "Logistics Lockdown" program announced in May, which provides for systematic strikes on Russian warehouses, equipment, command posts, and supply routes deep behind the front line. A separate Ukrainian Deep Strike track targets critical infrastructure inside Russia itself, with Ukrainian deep strikes reaching up to 1,800 kilometers into Russian territory and recent operations hitting Russian oil-logistics nodes from Volgograd to Novorossiysk. 

Russian crude reaches the sea through tunnels under a mountain ridge—and Ukraine hit the storage end near Novorossiysk

8 June 2026 at 12:12

russian crude reaches sea through tunnels under mountain ridge—and ukraine hit storage end near novorossiysk · post smoke fire rise over after ukrainian drone strike grushovaya oil depot krasnodar krai

Ukrainian drones set a major oil depot ablaze near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk overnight on 7-8 June 2026, in a strike confirmed by Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS). Residents reported a string of blasts and heavy smoke over the Grushovaya storage site, which feeds Russia's busiest oil-export port. Ukrainian forces hit two more targets in southern Russia the same night.

Ukraine has spent the past year pushing its deep-strike campaign further into Russia, hunting the refineries, pipelines, and export ports that turn crude into the cash funding the invasion. Each hit on this Black Sea network forces costly repairs and brief loading halts, and steady Ukrainian success deep in Russia's rear, alongside a steadier front, is shifting how the West reads the war.

Drones spark a blaze at Novorossiysk's oil hub

The strike came before dawn. Residents of Novorossiysk, in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, reported about 50 blasts, then heavy smoke over the Grushovaya oil depot. Operators of the SBS's 1st Separate Center, working with Special Operations Forces (SSO) and other units, confirmed the hit. Ukraine's General Staff also confirmed the strike and said a fire broke out, with damage still being assessed. Russian officials claimed no one was hurt.

russian crude reaches sea through tunnels under mountain ridge—and ukraine hit storage end near novorossiysk · post nasa firms satellite data fire hotspots (the red squares top right) grushovaya oil
NASA FIRMS satellite data showing fire hotspots (the red squares, the cluster to the right) at the Grushovaya oil depot near Novorossiysk, 8 June 2026. Map: NASA FIRMS

NASA's FIRMS satellite service detected abnormal heat at the site at 02:48 on 8 June. Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ began reporting the attack around 3 a.m., posting photos and videos of fire in the mountains above the city. OSINT Telegram channel Falcon insight pinpointed the location. Russian news Telegram channel ASTRA confirmed the burning tank farm from eyewitness footage shot about 11 km away.

A fuel storage depot is burning in Novorossiysk, Russia, after a drone strike hit the tank farm overnight

Novorossiysk is one of Russia's most strategically important Black Sea ports, handling a significant share of Russian oil exports
🎥 Supernova pic.twitter.com/d2ab4SSuH0

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 8, 2026

What the Grushovaya depot feeds

The Grushovaya site is a transshipment depot for the Sheskharis terminal. Chernomortransneft runs it, under Russia's state pipeline monopoly Transneft. It sits in the Grushovaya Balka tract beyond the Markotkh Ridge, about 12 km from Novorossiysk. The tank farm holds more than 1.2 million m³ of fuel across dozens of tanks, on a site of about 212 hectares. SBS called it one of the largest oil-product stores in the Caucasus.

russian crude reaches sea through tunnels under mountain ridge—and ukraine hit storage end near novorossiysk · post smoke burning grushovaya oil depot drifts over after ukrainian drone strike 8 2026
Smoke from the burning Grushovaya oil depot drifts over Novorossiysk after the Ukrainian drone strike, 8 June 2026. Photo: Exilenova+

Novorossiysk is southern Russia's biggest oil-export hub, the Moscow Times reported. The port ships up to 700,000 barrels a day, and its terminals moved 19.8 million tonnes of oil products in 2025. That trade feeds Russia's budget, which bankrolls the war on Ukraine. The port has become a recurring target in Ukraine's strikes on Russia's Black Sea oil logistics.

Volgograd and a coastal radar also hit

The same night, Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck the Krasny Yar oil-pumping station in Volgograd Oblast, where a fire broke out. Volgograd governor Andrei Bocharov claimed the blaze came from falling drone debris at the Zhirnovsk pumping station and was quickly put out, the Moscow Times reported. Ukrainian forces also hit a Russian radar station near Kabardinka in Krasnodar Krai, according to the General Staff.

Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Baltic Fleet base at Kronstadt near St. Petersburg overnight, flying nearly 1,000 km. Source: Zelenskiy
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Not the first strike on Novorossiysk's oil chain

Ukrainian forces have hit this infrastructure before. Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi reported that drones struck the Grushovaya depot on 23 May 2026, when fire spread across much of the site. Strike drones also hit the Sheskharis terminal on 6 April, damaging oil-metering systems and shut-off valves at the loading berths. ASTRA said the wider complex was attacked in early March, early April, and on 22 May.

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