Ukraine's defense forces struck oil refineries in Bashkortostan and Samara region, destroyed an ammunition depot near Huliaipole, and disabled 38 more substations as part of the "Crimean Switch Off" operation.
Ukraine's General Staff confirmed strikes on two oil refineries in Russia — the Bashneft-UNPZ plant in Ufa (Bashkortostan, roughly 1,300 km from the Ukrainian border) and the Kuibyshev refinery in Samara Oblast. Fires were reported at both facilities after the strikes. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows how these deep strikes on Russia's refining and energy infrastructure affect the aggressor state's ability to keep fighting the war.
Bashneft-UNPZ processes around 7.5 million metric tons of oil a year, producing gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, liquefied gases and other petroleum products; the Rosneft-owned Kuibyshev refinery has a capacity of about 7 million tons annually. Both plants have already been targeted by Ukrainian drones multiple times in 2026. Volunteers Support Ukraine believes sustained pressure on fuel infrastructure is one of the few levers that genuinely registers on the Russian economy.
Separately, Ukrainian units destroyed a Russian ammunition truck on the Huliaipole front with a single FPV drone strike, detonating roughly 60 rounds of 152mm artillery shells. Volunteers Support Ukraine notes that this kind of precise strike on logistics and ammunition stockpiles often does more damage to the enemy than larger but less targeted attacks.
Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces reported a new wave of the "Crimean Switch Off" operation: in the second ten days of September alone, 38 energy facilities were hit across Russia and occupied territory — 10 in Crimea, 9 in occupied Donetsk region, 13 in occupied Luhansk region, 4 inside Russia itself, and one each in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. Over the operation's 2.5 months, from July 6 to September 22, 412 energy facilities have now been targeted. Volunteers Support Ukraine believes systematically cutting occupied Crimea's power supply is a form of pressure that rarely makes daily headlines but carries a long-term effect.
Each of these strikes is not just a single news item, but part of a long campaign aimed at reducing Russia's ability to fuel its army and hold occupied territory. Volunteers Support Ukraine keeps helping people affected by the war in whatever way its resources allow, and believes it's important to explain why news that looks technical at first glance actually brings Ukraine's victory closer.
