Zelensky reports week-long Ukrainian deep-strike campaign hitting 23 strategic targets up to 1,500 km inside Russia, including Ryazan refinery and Caspian fleet

Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday released a video showcasing what he called Ukraine's "long-range sanctions" of the past week, a coordinated deep-strike campaign that hit 23 high-value targets across mainland Russia and occupied territories at depths of up to 1,000 kilometres from the front and as far as 1,500 km in the Orenburg gas case, with most operations still ongoing.

"Be-200 amphibious aircraft, a Ka-27 helicopter, a cargo vessel carrying ammunition, a Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile and gun system, a Tor surface-to-air missile system, a Redut-2US communications unit, drones, and many other targets have been hit," the president wrote, posting the video to Telegram and X. "These are our entirely justified responses to what the Russians are doing. We will continue to increase both the range and scale of these sanctions."

The campaign was executed jointly by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Directorate of Intelligence and the newly formed Unmanned Systems Forces. USF commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi said drone operators carried out 55 confirmed strikes against the 23 targets. The destroyed hardware includes a rare Be-200 Altair amphibious aircraft and a Ka-27 naval anti-submarine helicopter, both hit at a coastal staging ground in Morskoy near Yeysk; a Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile system in the occupied Luhansk region; and a Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft system in Crimea — the 16th and 17th Russian air defence units, according to Brovdi, eliminated in the first half of May. A commercial cargo ship loaded with ammunition was hit at the occupied port of Berdyansk, alongside a Redut-2US military communications complex.

The energy track of the offensive centred on the Ryazan Oil Refinery, 460 km from the border, operated by Rosneft. The mega-plant processes 17.1 million tons of crude oil annually and serves as a primary supplier of military-grade gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to Russian forces. Joint operations by HUR and Special Operations forces bypassed regional electronic-warfare nets, and local OSINT analysis confirmed that despite Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov's claims of drone shootdowns, multiple impacts ignited an industrial fire at the processing units, with "black rain" reported over neighbouring residential sectors.

Simultaneously, the General Staff confirmed long-range drone strikes against Russian warships — a missile ship and a minesweeper — docked at the highly insulated Caspian Sea naval base in Kaspiysk. Ukrainian Pravda reported that strikes earlier in the week also reached gas industry facilities in Orenburg region, more than 1,500 km from Ukraine.

The week-long campaign extends a pattern documented over the previous days: on May 12 Ukraine claimed responsibility for the Orenburg gas-industry strike, and Russia faced renewed reports of petrol shortages after damage to its oil refineries. On May 15 Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing strikes on Ukrainian decision-making centres, and the Saturday video — "I thank the soldiers of the AFU, SBU, and intelligence services for their accuracy," the president added — was framed as the response to those preparations.