(KYIV) – Ukrainian drones have reached Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region and Yamal, some 2,500 to 3,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, striking Russia’s largest oil and gas producing regions, according to Ukrainian vlogger Anna from Ukraine.
The strikes represent some of the deepest Ukrainian attacks inside Russia to date. Khanty-Mansiysk is Russia’s main oil refining region, home to 40 percent of all remaining oil refining facilities. Reports indicate six airports were closed and multiple oil refining facilities were successfully neutralised. Yamal, even further away at 3,000 kilometres, is a gas production region.
According to Anna, Russia’s vast territory is now working against it, as the country lacks air defence and prioritises the security of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin over strategic sites such as oil refineries.
The deep strikes have become a major topic of discussion among Russian pro-war bloggers, who have shifted from spreading Russian lies to concentrating on problems. Anna noted that Russian vloggers have changed how they speak about the failed special military operation, particularly in 2026. Criticism began with various generals, then extended to Putin and his decisions, and now focuses on the disastrous situation on the front lines.
The Lyman direction is currently at the centre of their attention. Russian bloggers are sharing messages from criminals who signed contracts and thought they would succeed, but are now making Russian losses even more terrifying. On the most successful part of the front line, Russian forces are able to move only 50 metres per day. Russian bloggers fear this is a new Ukrainian strategy to allow Putin to send more and more people on such assaults, losing hundreds for a couple of metres.
This statistics is hidden from the Russian population, but it is becoming obvious to them. There are no volunteers to join the Russian army. People have stopped signing contracts, which is why Putin speaks about the need for conscription. Anna noted that Putin denies this in interviews, but that is exactly how the Kremlin signals its plans. She quoted the satirical account Darth Putin from X, who often says: “Do not trust the Kremlin until it denies the plan.”
Russian bloggers are also sharing information about the Lyman direction and predictions about how much time Russia may need to capture the Donetsk region. Putin wants to sell to American negotiators that the best way to stop the war is to give him the territories he cannot otherwise occupy. Anna argued this is a strategy to continue later using Donetsk and Luhansk as platforms. Ukrainians have learned from their mistakes, and to appease an invader means to open doors wider for further invasions.
According to Anna, the Russians are begging for the support of negotiators simply because they cannot get the territory and predict it could take 10 years. Towns such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are real fortresses, very well protected, and keep the Russian army from entering wider Ukrainian steppes. She urged against appeasing Putin, citing lessons learned from 2014.
Meanwhile, Russian drone attacks continue on Ukrainian trade centres and shopping malls. Russian vloggers and YouTubers who supported the so-called special military operation now mock this decision, saying Ukrainians destroy vital sites for Russia’s war economy and military machine while their own strikes do not make them feel proud.
Anna concluded that it is important to watch Russian bloggers to understand the tension growing inside Russia. Even pro-war imperialistic voices of the Kremlin now criticise Putin, the army, the wrong choice of targets, wrong decisions, the loss of geopolitical influence, and feel sorry that this weakness of the Kremlin was exposed and is now visible to the whole world.
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