Ukraine unleashed another wave of deep strikes inside Russia overnight, setting an oil depot ablaze and sending air defences into a frantic battle as Kyiv stepped up its campaign to cripple Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Explosions rocked southern Russia and the Moscow region in the early hours of July 13 as Ukrainian drones reportedly punched hundreds of miles beyond the front line, targeting fuel supplies and strategic infrastructure.
A major blaze erupted at the Mikhailovskaya oil depot in Stavropol Krai after the facility was hit in what appeared to be another precision drone attack aimed at Russia’s energy network.
The strike marked yet another bold Ukrainian operation against targets far from the battlefield — forcing the Kremlin to confront a growing vulnerability inside its own borders.
The Mikhailovskaya facility in the village of Mikhailovsk was engulfed in flames after Ukrainian forces reportedly targeted the site.
Explosions were reported before a large fire broke out, according to monitoring channels.
💥Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in Stavropol Krai
According to Governor Vladimir Vladimirov, a fire broke out in an industrial zone in the village of Vyazniki after the attack. The official reports there were no casualties.
Ukrainian monitoring groups report that the… pic.twitter.com/zrmekxAicb
— Global Brief (@globalbrief_now) July 13, 2026
A second oil facility in nearby Vyazniki was also reportedly hit, with residents reporting explosions and damage.
Stavropol Krai Governor Vladimir Vladimirov confirmed a fire had broken out in an industrial area, although Russian officials gave few details about the scale of the damage.
The targets sit deep inside Russia — hundreds of kilometres from Ukrainian positions — demonstrating the expanding reach of Kyiv’s drone arsenal.
The attacks spread north towards the Russian capital region, where residents reported explosions in Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Oblast.
Russian air defence systems were activated as drones approached.
Moscow Oblast Governor Andrey Vorobyov claimed that 81 drones had been destroyed or intercepted over the region.
But the overnight assault still caused damage.
Vorobyov said drone debris struck a residential area, leaving people injured and homes damaged.
He also reported casualties after a drone crash in the village of Pionersky.
The claims have not been independently verified.
The strikes are part of a widening Ukrainian campaign against Russia’s oil infrastructure — a key source of funding and fuel for the Kremlin’s invasion.
Kyiv has repeatedly targeted refineries, storage facilities and transport links in an attempt to disrupt the supply chain supporting Russian military operations.
Earlier attacks reportedly hit the Stavropolskaya oil depot and the Krasnaya Zvezda facility in Tver Oblast, triggering fires.
Ukraine’s message is clear: the battlefield is no longer confined to the trenches of the east.
At the same time, Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian maritime assets.
Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, claimed Ukrainian drones struck 21 Russian tankers and seven other vessels in the Sea of Azov.
He said: “The shadow tanker fleet is noticeably shrinking.”
Brovdi claimed the attacks had disrupted traffic through the Kerch Strait, a vital route linking occupied Crimea with Russia.
The following day, he claimed another 14 Russian vessels were destroyed as Kyiv continued its effort to hit the networks helping finance Moscow’s war.
The growing drone offensive represents one of Ukraine’s biggest strategic shifts of the war.
Instead of relying solely on conventional strikes near the front line, Kyiv is taking the fight deep into Russia — targeting the infrastructure that keeps its military machine supplied.
The Kremlin has been forced to deploy more air defence systems around cities, refineries and strategic sites, stretching resources already under pressure from the fighting in Ukraine.
For ordinary Russians, the war is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.
Oil depots burning, drones crossing hundreds of miles and explosions near Moscow are a stark reminder that the conflict Putin launched has reached far beyond Ukraine’s borders.
The drone war is moving closer to Russia’s heartland — and Ukraine shows no sign of slowing the pressure.
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