Ukraine’s deep strikes causing panic in Russia; economic, logistical pressure mounts inside Russia

Ukraine’s deep-strike campaigns are testing Russia’s ability to defend its vast territory, with recent drone attacks reaching further than ever into the world’s largest country, United 24 media outlet says.

According to Al Jazeera on June 19, Ukraine is increasingly demonstrating that Russia’s sheer geographic scale—once a historical advantage—is becoming a strategic vulnerability in the ongoing war. Stretching nearly 10,000 kilometers from west to east and spanning 17 million square kilometers, Russia encompasses over 11 percent of the Earth’s landmass.

But in today’s war, this expanse creates logistical and defensive challenges, especially amid growing pressure from Ukraine’s long-range drone operations.

Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of Ukraine’s General Staff, noted that Russia’s size offers “maximal capabilities for strikes,” referring to it ironically as Ukrainian attacks reach deeper into Russian territory.

From military leadership to civilian volunteers building drones in workshops, Ukraine continues to adapt, bypassing Soviet-era doctrines with asymmetric tactics. Ukrainian forces have launched repeated cross-border operations, securing positions in the Russian regions of Kursk and Bryansk. These incursions have forced Russia to divert tens of thousands of troops to domestic defense.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s evolving drone capabilities have exposed gaps in Russia’s air defense infrastructure, much of which was designed during the Cold War and remains stretched across large areas of western Russia.

One of the most significant operations to date, Operation Spiderweb, was carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service on June 1. The long-range drone strike targeted the Belaya airbase in Irkutsk, nearly 4,000 kilometers from Ukraine’s border.

According to reports, the drones—possibly launched from Kazakhstan—damaged or destroyed strategic bombers. The same operation extended to the Amur region, over 7,000 kilometers east of Ukraine. Only a technical malfunction prevented further damage at the Ukrainka airstrip, United 24 media says.

Military analysts have taken note. Mick Ryan, a retired Australian general and Lowy Institute fellow, described such operations as a warning that domestic military sites are now highly vulnerable to cost-effective and mobile threats that are difficult to detect or intercept. Now, Ukraine’s drone campaigns routinely target military-industrial infrastructure in and around Moscow. Beyond the military, Ukraine has also focused on undermining Russia’s economic infrastructure. A series of strikes on oil refineries and fuel pipelines have temporarily knocked out up to 14 percent of Russia’s refining capacity, according to the US Defense Intelligence Agency. These strikes, seen as a response to Russia’s repeated attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, have triggered a six-month ban on gasoline exports, increased domestic fuel prices by 30 percent, and forced Russia to import fuel from Belarus, United 24 media says. Logistics have also been disrupted.