(NOVY URENGOY, YAMALO-NENETS AUTONOMOUS OKRUG) – Ukrainian drones have struck a key gas facility in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, nearly 3,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, in what military analysts are calling the deepest strike on Russian territory since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The attack on the Novy Urengoy condensate preparation plant, operated by Gazprom and with a capacity of 19.5 million tonnes of raw material per year, was confirmed by regional governor Dmitry Artyukhov, who reported a fire but claimed no casualties. Presidential envoy to the Urals Federal District, Artyom Zhoga, stated that Ukrainian forces had for the first time attacked the Arctic part of the district, causing a fire at a fuel and energy complex facility whose personnel had been evacuated in advance.
Ukrainian drone manufacturer Firepoint indicated that its UAVs were used in the strike, reportedly covering more than 3,300 kilometres. Military analyst Yan Matveyev noted that this is likely the furthest strike by Ukrainian forces on Russian territory since the war began. Ukrainian monitoring channels identified the target as the Novy Urengoy plant for preparing condensate for transport, which is part of Gazprom.
The operation comes amid a flurry of Russian propaganda and disinformation. On 8th September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aircraft was reportedly endangered by a Russian drone as he prepared to fly from Chisinau to Oslo to attend the funeral of Norwegian King Harald V. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store confirmed the incident.
A Moldovan government representative told Reuters that Zelenskyy’s plane received clearance to depart only after it was established that a Russian drone had crashed on Moldovan territory. Moldova’s Ministry of Defence reported that a Russian Shahed-type drone crashed in a field near the village of Starye Mikhaylyany at 17:26, approximately 160 kilometres from the capital’s airport, causing a fire. According to adsbexchange.com, Zelenskyy’s aircraft departed Chisinau 26 minutes later, at 17:52.
A high-ranking Ukrainian official on board told the Financial Times that a Russian Shahed drone with a jet engine had indeed nearly collided with the aircraft. Moldova’s ambassador to the United States, Vladislav Kulminski, said the incident could not have been accidental. “We do not believe that jet drones simply fly into Moldovan territory for reconnaissance purposes when the Ukrainian president’s plane is on the ground at the airport,” he said. “I think we can safely speak of another prevented assassination attempt on Zelenskyy.”
The timing is notable, coming just a week after the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that strikes on senior leadership are not carried out because there would need to be someone to negotiate with. When asked directly whether Ukrainian leadership currently has immunity from Russian strikes, Putin replied: “As you can see, we do not carry out such strikes. We proceed from the assumption that we need people for genuine negotiations, if they understand they want to resolve issues peacefully, rather than simply destroying our economy in 40 days and bringing Russia to its knees.”
Kremlin propagandists have rushed to dismiss the incident. Television presenter Vladimir Solovyov argued that the Shahed exploded approximately 160 kilometres from Chisinau airport and that the plane received clearance only after the drone fell, accusing the other side of lying “on flat ground.” Another propagandist, Olga Skabeyeva, blamed Moldova entirely, claiming Moldovan military tracked the drone to the Romanian border and oversaw the Ukrainian flight.
She asserted that no threat to Zelenskyy existed and that it remains unknown where the drone flew from, who controlled it, or who owned it. Nevertheless, Moldovan authorities do not consider the incident a coincidence. Military experts have pointed to the precision of Russian Geran drones, recalling the targeted strike on the SBU building in central Kyiv, where a drone flew through the window of the SBU head’s office. They conclude that the Moldova incident was a demonstration of force and a threat to Zelenskyy.
In a parallel development, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused Ukraine of preparing an attack on the British ambassador in Russia. According to the FSB, Ukraine planned to organise a terrorist act against Ambassador Nigel Casey. Security services reported the detention of a 45-year-old Russian citizen who worked for an organisation guarding the British embassy in Moscow and allegedly cooperated with Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU).
The FSB claims the man gathered information intended for use in preparing attacks on Ambassador Casey and other diplomatic mission representatives, including residential addresses of diplomats, information about the embassy’s security system, and events held there. The FSB stated that the Russian received tasks from a Ukrainian blogger named Dmytro Karpenko, known by the pseudonym “Apostol Dmytro.”
The detained man reportedly called himself an ethnic Ukrainian, wore a trident tattoo on his shoulder, and sometimes greeted colleagues with a neo-Nazi salute. In January this year, he allegedly contacted Karpenko through a mutual acquaintance. Karpenko immediately took an interest in the man’s work at the embassy.
The FSB claims the Russian collected personal data on Ambassador Casey and his deputies, including residence, names of all relatives, official documentation from the British Foreign Office with dossiers on all diplomatic staff, and plans for the ambassador’s daily activities, including which cars he uses, where he travels, which restaurants he visits, and the arrival and departure times of all employees.
The FSB released screenshots of what appears to be an internal list of embassy staff, with faces and surnames blurred. The announcement lacked substantial evidence, and notably, the FSB did not even bother to plant a Yarosh business card this time.
It is also notable that one day before the FSB press release about the detention of the British embassy security guard in Moscow, London’s Metropolitan Police announced the arrest of an alleged GRU agent, 31-year-old British citizen Joshua Camidge. He was remanded in custody on charges of assisting a foreign intelligence service and intending to commit or participate in the preparation of an act of sabotage.
According to the UK Crown Prosecution Service, Camidge contacted a representative of the GRU’s Volunteer Corps, a group controlled by Russian military intelligence. The result is an almost mirrored story, with London announcing its case first. Kremlin special services have once again demonstrated a remarkable ability to find a Ukrainian agent just in time following unpleasant news from Europe.
Meanwhile, Kremlin mouthpieces continue to shout about the ubiquitous Ukrainian trace, even accusing Ukraine of assassination attempts on Trump and elevating their own FSB. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that Zelenskyy’s favourite toy since childhood was a meat grinder, citing his mother.
“Now Zelenskyy has created this meat grinder in his own country, which swore love and whose people begged to believe that he was for peace and their bright future,” she said. “Now he grinds them into mincemeat, periodically removing the necessary organs to sell them abroad.” This prompted the obvious question: what was Putin’s favourite toy, given that he has brought mass death not only to his own country’s citizens but also to a neighbouring one, and despite all this, does not want to stop the war.
Overnight on 9th September, Ukrainian drones also attacked Sochi, with the Kuban operational headquarters reporting that the city came under attack from naval drones, causing a fire on the seafront. According to preliminary data from authorities, one person was injured. Sochi mayor Andrey Proshunin wrote on his Telegram channel that all forces and means were working to protect the city and urged residents to remain in shelters. Local residents expressed fear and confusion.
One resident said: “I want to emphasise that in the city of Sochi there is not a single, absolutely not a single military target. So this is purely terrorism. There are no Ozon or Wildberries warehouses, nothing like that. It’s velvet season now. People are just relaxing, trying to rest. And this is pure terrorism and a certain influence on public opinion, that’s all.” Monitoring channels claim the strike may have hit the area of Sochi’s seaport. Only one naval drone participated in the attack. After the attack, traffic around Sochi port was blocked, and the seafront was closed to visitors.
In the early hours of 10th September, Ukrainian drones attacked Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, according to acting head of the republic Fedor Shchukin. Fires broke out at the seaport and at the Avar Music and Drama Theatre named after Gamzat Tsadasa as a result of falling drone debris. The fires were promptly extinguished, with no casualties reported.
Shchukin urged local residents not to publish photos and videos of the attack’s aftermath, but as seen, his request was largely ignored. Residents described a night of fear. One said: “We barely slept. It was very scary.” Another added: “I don’t know if there was a residential building there or not. It’s on fire now. I hope they put it out.” A third recalled: “It was very scary and very loud, everything was shaking. I even heard one fall into the sea, heard the splash of water.” A fourth remarked: “Well, the morning started with this, from 3:30. A terrible feeling. But what a sunrise.”
The Makhachkala commercial seaport is Russia’s only deep-water and ice-free port on the Caspian Sea. It has an oil harbour equipped with five specialised berths for tankers of up to 10,000 tonnes deadweight. The port’s export capacity is up to 7.9 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products per year.
An oil depot is located on the adjacent territory, connected to the Baku-Novorossiysk main oil pipeline. Ukrainian drones previously attacked Dagestan on 24th August, striking the largest Ozon marketplace warehouse in the North Caucasus. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed strikes on eight Russian infrastructure targets in a single day, including the refinery in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the seaport in Dagestan.
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