Ukrainian drones cover quarter of russia's territory and 70% of its population - Bloomberg

Ukraine’s long-range unmanned technologies have reached a new strategic level, enabling strikes on targets up to 1,600 kilometers deep into russian territory. It was reported by Bloomberg.

A quarter of russian territory, where over 70% of its population is concentrated, is currently under regular fire control by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This effectively means that the war has reached regions that for decades were considered an unreachable “deep rear.”

The recent attacks on industrial centers in the Urals have been particularly telling. Specifically, on April 25, a strike was launched against targets in Yekaterinburg—a city that has served as a safe haven for evacuated factories since World War II. The psychological impact of these attacks has been enormous: local residents acknowledge that the status of a “safe rear” has been lost, and Rosaviatsiya was forced to suspend operations at the strategic airport five times due to the threat from the air.

In addition to psychological pressure, Ukraine is methodically destroying the aggressor’s economic foundation. Oil refineries and fertilizer production facilities are coming under attack, which directly hits the Kremlin’s foreign exchange earnings. Last week, drones caused a fire at the Lukoil plant in the Perm Oblast, damaging critical equipment for primary oil refining.

Similar attacks have been recorded in the Chelyabinsk Oblast, a key hub for russia’s metallurgical and aerospace industries. There, not only factories but also air bases housing modern Su-57 and Su-34 fighter jets have been targeted.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that this is only the beginning of the expansion of the geography of long-range strikes. Since the situation on the front lines requires unconventional solutions, Ukraine is relying on the massed use of UAVs to wear down russian air defense and disrupt logistics. The ability to reach targets 1,500–1,700 km away forces the enemy to redeploy scarce defense systems from the front lines deep into its own territory in an attempt to protect strategically important industrial facilities.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, a satellite image has been published of the "VNIIR-Progress" plant, which was attacked by missiles and UAVs.