Ukraine sets new record with deepest attack into Russia to date

Ukrainian forces have launched their deepest attack inside Russian territory since the full-scale war began.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military operators targeted a key gas plant in northwestern Siberia on September 9, hitting a facility roughly 3,200 kilometers (1,988 miles) from Ukraine.

For comparison, the distance from the Southern tip of the state of Florida to the US-Canada border is roughly 2,600 kilometers (1,650 miles).

The strike hit the Novy Urengoy Gas Condensate Treatment Plant in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Ukrainian Special Operations Forces wrote on Telegram, “Until today, this area was considered completely safe territory for the aggressor.”

Local residents filmed dark smoke and tall flames rising above the facility, while system monitors observed plant stacks burning off excess gas to prevent explosions.

Beyond safe borders

The facility handles 19.5 million tons of crude oil and gas each year, producing essential diesel fuel for the Russian military.

Ukrainian weapons manufacturer Fire Point stated its FP-1 drone carried out the long-range mission. Regional governor Dmitry Artyukhov also confirmed the attack.

The target sits just 600 kilometers from the massive Yamal LNG project. That single site accounts for over 60 percent of Russia’s total liquefied natural gas exports.

Alexander Kirk, a sanctions campaigner at environmental group Urgewald, believes European leaders must react quickly. “The war has reached Russia’s Arctic gas heartland, close to Yamal LNG, just days before this weekend’s European Arctic Summit,” Kirk said in a statement, cited by The Kyiv Independent.

Pressure on Europe

Kirk urged European countries to impose sanctions “before potential kinetic sanctions are applied to the Russian gas infrastructure supplying the European market.”

He added, “The EU needs to get a grip. It should use the upcoming 22nd sanctions package to sanction all 14 Arc7 tankers sustaining Yamal LNG and close the sanctions gap around the European maritime and maintenance services keeping them operational.”

With long-range UAVs striking deeper than ever, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned foreign governments and airlines that Russian airspace “will be de facto closed” because of Ukrainian drone strikes.

This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, who may have used AI in the preparation