---
title: "Attrition Tactics: How Mass Drone Strikes Took Out 20% of Russia's Oil Refining Capacity"
description: "Attrition tactics are working: mass attacks by Ukrainian drones have disabled 20% of Russia's oil refineries and overloaded Air Defense systems. 🔥 This year, Ukraine plans to produce 7 million UAVs, and strikes on the military-industrial complex in Volgograd and Voronezh only confirm the growth in effectiveness. 🚀"
date: 2026-06-27T03:50:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/attrition-tactics-how-mass-drone-strikes-took-out-20-of-russias-oil-refining-capacity
tags: []
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Attrition Tactics: How Mass Drone Strikes Took Out 20% of Russia's Oil Refining Capacity

![Ukrainian soldier holding a reconnaissance drone, symbolizing attrition tactics and mass attacks on Russian refineries](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/27/massirovannye-ataki-dronov-vyveli-iz-stroya-20-npz-rossii/massirovannye-ataki-dronov-vyveli-iz-stroya-20-npz-rossii-1.webp)

Ukrainian Armed Forces have transitioned to a new phase of combat operations where the key factor is not only firepower on the front line but also the ability to deliver precision strikes deep into the enemy's rear. Mass attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have overloaded the Russian Air Defense (Air Force) systems and disabled about 20% of the country's oil refining capacity. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine citing data from The Wall Street Journal.

### Technological breakthrough and success statistics

A significant increase in the number of drones and improvement of their technical characteristics have allowed Ukrainian military to radically increase the effectiveness of strikes. Statistics for the last months show an explosive growth in efficiency: only in June, about 35% of all verified successful strikes inside Russia for the entire current year occurred.

The vast scale of Russian territory, which was previously considered a strategic advantage, has turned into a complexity for defense. Air Defense systems have to simultaneously cover a huge front line and remote industrial facilities, which inevitably leads to a breakdown of forces.

### Attrition tactics and overloading of 'Pantsir'

To break through dense defense, Ukrainian military use a proven attrition tactic. The first waves of drones perform reconnaissance tasks, fixing the positions of anti-aircraft complexes. The obtained data allow subsequent groups of devices to find safe routes and evade interception.

The key factor of success is the massiveness of attacks. Russian anti-aircraft missile-gun complexes 'Pantsir', which are the basis of short-range Air Defense, are capable of simultaneously engaging no more than four targets. Large groups of drones simply overload the system, making it ineffective.

"We simply used a large group of drones, and they overloaded the Russian Air Defense systems," said the chief designer of Fire Point company Denis Shtilerman. According to him, drones and domestically produced missiles participate in 8-10 missions daily both on the territory of Russia and on occupied territories of Ukraine.

### Political and economic consequences for the Kremlin

The greatest political damage to the Kremlin is caused by strikes on Moscow and occupied Crimea. Successful attacks on ferries, bridges and oil depots in these regions have led to serious logistical problems. Local occupation authorities were forced to suspend the sale of fuel to individuals due to shortage and damage to infrastructure.

In early June, strikes also hit key enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Thus, in the morning of June 27, an enterprise for the production of launchers for Iskander-M ballistic missiles in Volgograd came under attack. Earlier, on June 22, explosions occurred in Voronezh, where the Voronezh Semiconductor Devices Plant 'Sbornik' was attacked by missiles.

### Plans for scaling production

Ukraine sets ambitious goals for increasing the production of aviation equipment. This year, it is planned to release more than seven million drones, which is three times higher than the indicators of 2024 (more than two million). Although most of them will be short-range drones for the needs of the front, work is simultaneously being carried out to increase capacities for the production of long-range devices.

Defense enterprises are striving to reach production rates of up to 300 long-range drones per day, capable of covering long distances. In addition, domestic cruise missiles 'Neptune' and 'Flamingo' are increasingly used to destroy protected objects and bunkers. They have a larger warhead compared to drones and are significantly more difficult to intercept by Russian systems.

### Development of missile potential

Against the backdrop of growing effectiveness of Ukrainian long-range means, the issue of developing its own missile potential remains a priority. Since Russian ballistics represents a constant threat to the rear and front, Ukraine is actively studying international experience in creating and scaling similar weapons to develop its own ballistic program.