Ukrainian forces have used British drones to attack targets inside Russia for the first time, adding two UK-built systems to Kyiv’s arsenal, The Sunday Times reported on 15 August, citing Ukrainian military sources. The newspaper explicitly identified oil refineries in Volgograd and Yaroslavl among the targets struck during the previous six months.

Ukraine still relies mainly on domestically produced drones. But the British systems give Kyiv cheaper weapons that can be replenished and launched in volume. They help sustain Kyiv's attacks on Russian oil, logistics, and military targets without running down limited stocks of Western long-range missiles.

The Sunday Times called this a new phase in UK–Ukraine military cooperation. A senior British defense source said the deployments showed London was “not nervous anymore” about Russian pressure.

What British support adds to Ukraine’s homegrown drone force

Britain has supplied Ukraine with two systems with very different ranges. The Nyan, a jet-powered one-way attack drone made by BAE Systems subsidiary Callen-Lenz, can travel more than 150 miles. The second is catapult-launched and has a range above 600 miles; The Sunday Times withheld its manufacturer’s name on security grounds.

Long-range drones typically cost £50,000 to £100,000, compared with more than £750,000 to replace a Storm Shadow missile, the newspaper said. They can also be stockpiled and launched in swarms, helping Ukraine strain Russian air defenses without exhausting finite missile stocks.

The drones extend wider British support. In June, the UK announced funding for 150,000 Ukrainian-produced drones by the end of 2026. Ukrainian forces have also deployed British Rapid Ranger systems against Russian Shaheds and used UK-supplied Storm Shadows inside Russia, protecting Ukraine at home while widening its options across the border.

Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign reaches 52 Russian regions

Across Ukraine’s overall campaign, The Sunday Times reported almost 700 successful deep strikes between January and June. They reached 52 Russian regions and caused more than £35 billion (about $47.3 billion) in economic damage.

A senior Ukrainian military source said the British systems were proving successful. “When we launch them, we always say Slava Ukraini and God save the King,” the source told The Sunday Times.

Former UK Air Marshal Greg Bagwell predicted Moscow would “sabre rattle” and potentially declare British factories legitimate targets. Other defense sources warned of intensified cyberattacks or espionage against the UK.

Ukraine’s Navy said its forces struck the launch positions and deployment site of a Russian Bastion coastal missile system in occupied Crimea overnight on 16 August, reportedly inflicting significant losses in equipment and personnel.

Russia has regularly used Crimea as a launch platform for strikes against Ukraine, making its missile systems there a priority target for Ukrainian forces seeking to reduce Russia’s ability to attack Ukrainian territory.

The Navy said the final Russian losses were still being assessed and did not provide details on the weapons or personnel destroyed.

Bastion systems used to strike Ukraine

The Bastion is a costly and scarce Russian coastal missile system that can launch P-800 Oniks cruise missiles. Russia has used Oniks missiles launched from occupied Crimea to attack targets across southern and other regions of Ukraine.

Oniks is a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that Russia has adapted for strikes against ground targets in Ukraine, including Odesa Oblast. The missile can travel at more than 3,000 km/h, making it difficult for air defenses to intercept. Its standard range is about 300 kilometers, while upgraded variants can reportedly reach up to 800 kilometers and carry a 300-kilogram warhead. Russia launches ground attacks with Oniks from mobile Bastion systems based in occupied Crimea.

The Navy also said Russia uses Bastion systems to launch Zircon hypersonic missiles against Ukraine.

The Zircon is a newer hypersonic cruise missile designed to reach speeds of roughly Mach 5–9. Russia has used it against Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, with launches previously reported from Bastion systems in occupied Crimea. Its officially claimed range exceeds 1,000 kilometers, although analysts question that figure; Ukrainian analysts have estimated a lower effective range.

Bastion launchers in Crimea are a particularly important target for Ukraine: they give Russia a mobile platform for striking targets across southern Ukraine and, with Zircon, deep into the country. Ukraine’s air defenses have struggled to intercept these missiles, making strikes on the launchers an important way to reduce the threat before the missiles are fired.

The Ukrainian Navy said the strike was part of ongoing efforts to reduce Russia’s combat potential in the Black Sea region.

Several Ukrainian strikes recorded overnight

The Crimea strike came amid a broader wave of Ukrainian attacks on Russian military, industrial, and logistics targets overnight on 16 August.

Ukraine’s General Staff reported a strike on the Kamensky Combine in Russia’s Rostov Oblast, where a fire was recorded. The plant produces solid rocket fuel for Russia’s Uragan, Smerch, and Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket systems, as well as components for other missile and aviation weapons.

In Moscow Oblast, a Ukrainian drone struck a 250,000-square-meter Wildberries warehouse in Koledino, while another fire was reported at the Severnoye Domodedovo logistics complex. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry later confirmed the Wildberries facility had been put out of operation, saying it was the retailer’s largest warehouse by area.

The General Staff also confirmed the results of two earlier strikes. It said the ZapSibNeftekhim petrochemical complex in Tobolsk was shut down after its central gas-fractionation unit was struck on 10 August, while an 11 August strike damaged several processing units at the Orsknaftaorgsyntez refinery in Orenburg Oblast.

The strikes show the expanding reach of Ukraine’s campaign against the military and industrial infrastructure supporting Russia’s war, from missile systems and rocket-fuel production to oil, petrochemical, and logistics facilities.

A drone hit a major Wildberries warehouse at Koledino near Moscow overnight on 16 August 2026 and set it ablaze, Moscow Oblast Governor Andrey Vorobyov said. Vorobyov described the overnight swarm as “one of the most massive drone attacks in recent times.”

It comes amid an expanding Ukrainian campaign against Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer with a vast network of warehouses and logistics centers, that has reached warehouses from Moscow Oblast to the Urals. Ukrainian authorities say Wildberries facilities are used to supply components for Russian drone production and navigation equipment, making them part of Russia’s wartime logistics network.

The Koledino fire puts a major part of Wildberries’ storage and sorting capacity at risk. At about 250,000 square meters, the complex is one of the retailer’s largest logistics hubs. Ukrainian sources say the marketplace has moved drone parts and other military-linked goods. Wildberries denies supporting Russia’s military. 

Wildberries’ parent company, RWB, confirmed the fire, saying workers had been evacuated and deliveries rerouted. 

Unlike the 28 July fire at Koledino industrial park, the latest blaze was confirmed at Wildberries’ own Koledino warehouse. Initial reports in July had also pointed to Wildberries, but open-source investigators later identified the burning building as a neighboring warehouse run by a third-party logistics company.

A second fire broke out at Warehouse No. 15 in MLP Severnoye Domodedovo, a multimodal logistics complex near one of Moscow’s main airports. Vorobyov said the warehouse stores medications.

Vorobyov claimed an 83-year-old man was killed after a drone fell on a private home in the Ramenskoye district, while at least six other people were injured across the region.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that Russian air defenses destroyed 201 drones approaching the region.

Ukraine confirms Wildberries warehouse was targeted

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry confirmed that the Wildberries logistics hub in the Koledino industrial park was put out of operation during the overnight drone attack.

The ministry said the facility, which covered 250,000 square meters, was Wildberries’ largest warehouse by area. It also said Ukraine has now disabled seven of the company’s 10 largest logistics centers.

Ukraine’s campaign against Wildberries keeps growing

Ukraine’s campaign against Wildberries began on 18 July 2026, when drones struck warehouses in Elektrostal and Kotovsk. Reported attacks have since reached the retailer’s sites across Russia, including a newly opened hub near Voronezh and a warehouse in Tver targeted three times in two weeks.

By 14 August, Agentstvo had counted fires at more than 20 Wildberries sites. The sustained attacks had already prompted Wildberries to prohibit warehouse workers from bringing smartphones to work, citing concerns that photos and videos taken during drone alerts could pose a security risk. 

The effects on Russia’s economy

The number and geographic spread of Ukraine’s strikes have put sustained pressure on the retailer’s nationwide warehouse network and Russia’s economy at large. 

Earlier fires destroyed goods belonging to independent sellers, The Moscow Times reported. Wildberries said it was considering compensation, although its contracts do not require the company to cover losses caused by drone attacks. 

In response to Ukraine’s strikes, the company has also reportedly sought additional storage in Kazakhstan, giving local warehouse operators greater leverage as it tries to replace capacity lost in Russia.

The physical disruption was followed on 15 August by a Ukrainian cyberattack targeting Wildberries’ payment and customer service systems. The hackers said customers could not make payments or reach the company through its main online support channel. 

Ukraine struck the plant that fuels the rockets Russia rains on its frontline cities. On the night of 16 August 2026, Ukraine's Defense Forces hit an important Russian military-industrial enterprise, the Kamensky Combine in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Oblast, and a fire was recorded at the site, the General Staff reported.

The plant makes the fuel for weapons that Russia uses to grind down Ukrainian civilian areas. The Kamensky Combine produces solid rocket fuel for the Uragan, Smerch, and Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket systems, which Russia fires at frontline cities like Zaporizhzhia, where there is no metro to shelter in and civilians have only minutes to get behind walls the rockets punch through easily.

The Tornado-S is one of Russia’s most advanced long-range rocket artillery systems, capable of striking targets up to 120 kilometers away. Russian “Tornado-S” and “Smerch” systems are designed to fire and retreat rapidly, making them extremely difficult to locate.

The target feeds Russia's rocket artillery

The Kamensky Combine is a node in Russia's weapons production. It produces solid rocket fuel for the rocket systems, as well as a range of missile systems and aviation strike weapons, with its output directly serving the needs of Russia's armed forces.

The damage is still being assessed. The extent of the damage and the results of the strike are being clarified, the General Staff said, with a fire confirmed at the site.

Two earlier strikes were confirmed hit

The General Staff also confirmed results from recent deep strikes. Analysis of additional data confirmed the shutdown of the ZapSibNeftekhim complex in Tobolsk, Tyumen Oblast, one of Russia's largest petrochemical plants, after its central gas-fractionation unit was struck on 10 August.

A refinery was confirmed to have been hit, too. The 11 August strike at the Orsknaftaorgsyntez refinery in Orsk, Orenburg Oblast, damaged its hydrocracking unit, several primary oil-processing units, and a secondary distillation unit. The refinery produces gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and other products for Russia's armed forces and military industry.

The campaign continues

The General Staff signaled more to come. Work on key military and military-industrial targets of the enemy continues, it said, closing with "to be continued."

That promise fits a campaign that has spent 2026 reaching ever deeper into Russia, hitting the refineries, petrochemical plants, and now rocket-fuel factories that supply the war. Each confirmed strike degrades a different piece of Russia's ability to produce the weapons and fuel its forces run on.