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Ukrainian forces are engaged in an operational long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure and military assets, exploiting overstretched Russian air defenses. Ukrainian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against targets throughout Russia, ranging up to 1,400 kilometers from the international border, on the night of April 28 to 29. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported on April 29 that Ukrainian forces struck the Transeft Perm Linear Production Dispatch Station, Perm Oblast, causing fires to almost all oil storage tanks at the station. The SBU reported that the station is a strategic hub for Russia’s oil pipeline system and distributes oil in all four directions, including to the Perm Oil Refinery. Geolocated footage published on April 29 shows fires at the dispatch station. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Ukrainian Navy also struck the sanctioned Marquise oil tanker using unmanned service vehicles (USVs) 210 kilometers southeast of Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Marquise was flying under the Cameroonian flag, had a carrying capacity of over 37,000 tons, and was traveling without cargo — likely waiting for loading at sea from another vessel. Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) Commander Major Robert “Magyar” Brovdi posted geolocated footage and reported that Ukrainian forces struck two Russian Mi-28 and two Mi-17 helicopters refueling at a field landing site in Voronezh Oblast, 150 kilometers from the frontline. Geolocated footage published on April 28 indicates that Ukrainian forces likely also conducted strikes targeting the Orsk Oil Refinery in Orenburg Oblast (roughly 1,300 kilometers from the international border).
ISW has observed geolocated evidence that Ukrainian forces conducted at least 18 strikes against Russian oil infrastructure and at least 41 strikes against Russian military assets in at least 19 Russian federal subjects in April 2026. Ukrainian forces have been steadily increasing the range, volume, and intensity of their long-range strike campaigns against Russian oil infrastructure and military assets in Russia and occupied Ukraine’s territories since March 2026. Ukrainian forces are exploiting the large attack surface of Russia’s deep rear and overstretched Russian oil infrastructure and military assets, supported by increased Ukrainian domestic drone production. Ukrainian long-range strikes also continue to have outsized impacts on Russian oil exports, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating on April 29 that Ukrainian strikes have left the port of Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast, operating at 13 percent below capacity; the port of Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, at 38 percent below capacity; and the port of Ust-Luga, Leningrad Oblast, at 43 percent below capacity.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his April 29 phone call with US President Donald Trump to reiterate his commitment to his original war aims and promote his cognitive warfare effort, falsely portraying Ukraine’s defenses as collapsing and Russian victory in Ukraine as inevitable. Ukraine has largely stymied Russian advances across the frontline, blunting the Russian Spring-Summer 2026 offensive thus far. Russian Presidential Aide Yuriy Ushakov claimed on April 29 that the Trump-Putin call lasted for 1.5 hours and that Putin briefed Trump on the current state of the war in Ukraine, claiming that Russia holds the strategic initiative and is “pushing back” Ukrainian positions and that Russia will achieve its war goals “in any case” but would prefer to achieve these goals diplomatically. Putin and other Kremlin officials have consistently attempted to portray Ukraine as the intransigent party in peace negotiations for refusing to capitulate to Putin’s demands, despite Russia’s failure to offer meaningful concessions in return, and Putin again reiterated this point to Trump on April 29. Putin again asserted that Russia is performing well on the battlefield in order to justify his demand for Ukrainian capitulation. The premise of Putin’s claim remains false, however. Ukrainian forces continue to deny Russian significant advances in several sectors of the frontline, including in Russia’s priority objective of Donetsk Oblast, and are imposing increasing costs and casualties on Russian forces for these continued offensive operations. Ukraine has conducted significant counterattacks in southern Ukraine since January 2026 that have generated operational-level effects across the theater. Russians are increasingly feeling the costs of the war as Russia’s economy continues to face significant challenges, casualties continue to mount, and recruitment becomes more difficult. The Kremlin is very likely attempting to mitigate some of these costs by attempting to convince Trump and the West to push Ukraine to capitulate in a way that Russia’s full-scale invasion has failed to do and is obfuscating its own military and economic failures as part of this effort.
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