Inside Ukraine’s Secret Drone Unit Targeting Russian Oil Refineries

From a secret staging area in southern Ukraine, trucks loaded with six-meter-wingspan drones wait in the dark for the order to launch toward targets deep inside Russia. The unit behind them, the 413th Separate Regiment of Ukraine’s drone forces known as “Raid,” says its strikes on Russian oil refineries, data centers and defense-industry sites have already caused damage worth many billions of dollars.

The claim comes from Dimko Zjluktenko, an innovation officer with Raid, who told Nettavisen, which accompanied the unit on a night mission, that killing Russian soldiers alone will not end the invasion. “We have caused damage worth many billions of dollars,” he said. Ukraine’s own figures say more than 50,000 Russians were killed or wounded in October alone, yet ordinary Russians keep signing contracts for the war.

Drones built to reach deep inside Russia

The aircraft are produced by the Ukrainian company FirePoint, which makes two models. The FP-1 has a maximum range of 3,400 kilometers, carries a warhead of up to 60 kilograms and can stay aloft for up to 20 hours, striking static targets deep inside Russia. The FP-2 reaches 700 kilometers, carries up to 200 kilograms of explosives and flies for up to four hours against both static and moving targets. Soldiers say the practical difference between the two now comes down to fuel and payload: fly far with a larger tank and less ordnance, or fly shorter and carry more.

Each drone is launched from a truck by a rocket booster to reach flying speed, then runs on a simple gasoline engine driving a wooden propeller. The trucks themselves are top secret; Nettavisen was asked not to film them because Russia is intensely hunting them.

Psychological pressure on the Russian state

Press officer “George” gave a stark warning to those on the ground: if you see others running, you must run too, and you may get no warning. The strikes on refineries and data centers, Raid says, are where it hurts the Russian state most.

What remains unknown is how much of the claimed multi-billion-dollar damage can be independently verified, and whether the strikes will change Russia’s willingness to keep sending soldiers despite the heavy losses.