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Posted
2 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Drunk drone operators. 

They might also be operating non-fiber optic drones, so there's always some lag and they don't quite stop on a dime, especially if they aren't near the front and are inside Russia proper.  I would imagine that a lot of the drone operators are either kids whose parents bribed their way out of a ticket to the front, or disabled soldiers that are useless at the front.  They need all of the young able-bodied soldiers for the assaults.

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Posted

It looks like the drones are being used like suppressive or cover fire possibly. Pin the enemy down in a building so you can move your own troops. I guess when you are out of machine gun belts, you use whatever is available, no matter how much more expensive.

CHIEF

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Posted
2 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

It looks like the drones are being used like suppressive or cover fire possibly. Pin the enemy down in a building so you can move your own troops. I guess when you are out of machine gun belts, you use whatever is available, no matter how much more expensive.

CHIEF

The smaller drones are fairly cheap and using off the shelf explosives (grenades or small mortar rounds rigged up). I don't know if it's that much more expensive if your folks are safe behind the lines and getting multiple kills per soldier - it's a true force multiplier.

Ukrainians probably would not still be in this war if it weren't for drones, but damn it's brutal - they are hunting people down in their shelters, trenches, etc. and this shows how precise they are - they are taking out antennas.

 

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Posted
On 11/1/2025 at 9:11 AM, atomheartbevo said:

They are saying they physically placed charges. And it was on the other side of Moscow.  And they have pics and hideo

 

On 11/1/2025 at 8:11 AM, Bevo said:

Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) struck a key Russian military fuel pipeline in Moscow Oblast on Oct. 31, disabling a key supply route used by the Russian army, the agency said in a statement.

HUR said the strike targeted the Koltsevoy (Ring) pipeline, a 400-kilometer-long fuel artery used to supply Russia’s armed forces with gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from refineries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Moscow.

The operation reportedly destroyed all three major fuel lines of the system simultaneously near Ramensky district, south-east of Moscow. Despite anti-drone nets and armed security on-site, the pipeline infrastructure was successfully taken out of service, HUR said.

"The Ring pipeline was capable of transporting up to 3 million tons of jet fuel annually, as well as millions of tons of diesel and gasoline," HUR said, calling the strike a "serious blow" to Russia’s military logistics and its economy in Moscow Oblast.

"Our strikes have had more impact than the sanctions," HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov was quoted as saying in the post.

"It’s just a mathematical truth. We caused much greater damage to the Russian Federation through direct action than any economic levers of influence that had been introduced on them until now," he added.

The reported strike was part of a broader Ukrainian drone assault on Russia overnight. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted 98 drones overnight across 10 regions, including 11 over Moscow Oblast, six of which were reportedly headed toward the capital, Russian independent news outlet Meduza reported on Nov. 1. These coordinated strikes are part of Ukraine’s broader campaign to dismantle Russia’s military infrastructure and undermine its warfare capabilities.

Now this is some quality reporting. A Lat/Long of the fire and a Google Earth photo.

"It’s just a mathematical truth. We caused much greater damage to the Russian Federation through direct action than any economic levers of influence that had been introduced on them until now," he added.

It looks like the netting stopped the drones, so Ukraine blew up the pipelines the old fashioned way.

HUR said the strike targeted the Koltsevoy (Ring) pipeline, a 400-kilometer-long fuel artery used to supply Russia’s armed forces with gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from refineries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Moscow.

I'm betting the future holds some long range missile strikes hitting the storage facilities were the refinery pipelines cross the Moscow Ring pipelines. I'll try to find these when I get a chance. 

4 hours ago, Bevo said:

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Massive fires seen in Russian port town after Ukrainian drone strike

Kyiv says it is preparing to carry out more long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure as winter approaches

Vishwam Sankaran,Rebecca Whittaker
Sunday 02 November 2025 08:30 GMT
 

A Ukrainian drone strike has started major fires in Russia's Tuapse city, setting ablaze an oil tanker and the town's port in a move that could disrupt Moscow's fuel exports. A large part of Russia's crude and refined products reach international markets via the port in Russia's southern region of Krasnodar. 

Ukraine's secret service revealed yesterday that it has carried out over 150 strikes targeting Russian oil refineries and pipelines. Kyiv is preparing for new drone and long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure with a goal of causing widespread blackouts in Russia, said Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's drone forces.

Brovdi said more such strikes would lead to frequent fuel shortages across Russia as Moscow's gas and oil reserves were "burning fast".

There are reports that a Rosneft offshore oil terminal might have been hit. The deep-water berth might have been hit. It was put into operation in 2013 and has the capacity to handle up to ~7 million tons per year, and to accommodate vessels up to 250 m long and with a draft of up to 15 m (so the ones that can carry the most oil).

15 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

 

The toe bones are connected the the ankle bone, and the ankle bone is connected to the leg bone..., etc.

"The green oil tanker in the photo is approximately 820 feet (250 meters) long and 145 feet (44 meters) wide is typically classified as an Aframax vessel. 

An Aframax tanker typically carries around 750,000 barrels of oil. The range is generally between 500,000 to 800,000 barrels, depending on the specific design and type of oil (crude vs. refined product).

Operational Use: Aframax tankers are popular because their size allows them to access most ports globally, including those without very large crude oil terminals. They are commonly used for short- to medium-haul crude oil transportation in regions such as the Black Sea, the North Sea, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean."

The info provided puts the crosshairs on the pipeline manifold serving the berth furthest into the sea, away from the storage facilities. I think that means there a massive piece of steel and iron laying at the bottom of the Black Sea where the green tanker used to be.

Equally important, the pipeline manifold itself is probably destroyed to the point that the isolation valves are inoperable at best, and destroyed at worst, meaning that oil flow cannot be stopped at the green berth at the end of the pipelines. The only means of stopping flow at the green tanker means the pipelines need to be shut off further upstream.

A similar pipeline manifold exists at the loading berth with the red tanker, with the laterals and manifold 'teeing" off the mainlines. In this case, isolating the mainlines because of the fire at the green berth means the valves are closed further upstream of the red berth also, making that berth inoperable.   

image.thumb.png.9cf2e9c7bdda70daac5ca70c8c345c43.png

 

A wider view shows that the Taupse terminal has 4 loading berths, each with a similar pipeline/manifold design as the green and red berths. The "Taupse Loading Manifold" shown is the first point at which the fire at the green berth can be isolated to stop the flow of oil to the fire. To isolate the fire at the green berth, the entire loading terminal is isolated. It appears that for the foreseeable future, crude and products exports from Taupse are not happening.

Please note the Tuapse Refinery proximate to the export terminal, Russia's 8th largest with a capacity of 240,000 BPD.

image.thumb.png.0f090bb878b9302146b9bc3e42df69f2.png

Tuapse was probably only exporting limited refined products, but that does not appear to be an option for a while. Tuapse and the entire coast is somewhat isolated by the mountainous terrain along the coast, and the rail line serving that area is a twisty, turning line ~ 50 miles long before you get to flatter terrain. Damaging the export facilities won't shut down the refinery, but the logistics of moving all the refined products out by rail just became more complicated.

 

image.png

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Posted

@PTINS They are not letting Russia catch their breath, and this is the third time this refinery has been hit since September 15th. And they hit it multiple times tonight.

This was from a few weeks ago: Ukraine confirms drone strike on Russian oil refinery in Saratov Oblast, 2nd hit in a month and supposedly a major supplier to the military.

Quote

"The Saratov Refinery is one of the oldest Russian oil refining enterprises, formerly known as the Cracking Plant, and is part of the Rosneft oil company," the SSO said in a post on social media.

"The volume of oil processing as of 2020 is 7.2 million tons, and in 2023 it is 4.8 million tons. Recall that the SSO struck this facility exactly a month ago, on Sept. 16, 2025."

 

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Posted (edited)

Ukraine is going to bleed Russia's power infrastructure dry - no way they are keeping up with replacement parts fast enough - their existing stocks have got to be draining quickly..and Russia can't protect all of these substations.  Carl Spaatz would be damned proud of them.

 

Edited by atomheartbevo
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Posted
1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

Ukraine is going to bleed Russia's power infrastructure dry - no way they are keeping up with replacement parts fast enough - their existing stocks have got to be draining quickly..and Russia can't protect all of these substations.  Carl Spaatz would be damned proud of them.

 

Transformers are to Electrical Substations as Process Towers are to Refineries.

Substations transform between Lower Voltage (Power Generation) up to High Voltage (transmission lines) and back down to Lower Voltage (distribution systems).  The resistance across the transformers generate a lot of heat that must be dissipated, so they have large oil filled radiators and fans to help cool down the equipment. They are designed "fit for purpose" pieces of equipment and are not really interchangeable, and they are not likely to have spares sitting around. 

Other than arcing power lines, the transformers are about the only thing that burns in a substation. And like process towers, the heat signature of a transformer can be seen from space.

4 of the 5 stations are between Luhansk and the active contact line between Russia & Ukraine forces. 

Ukraine is unplugging the Russian power grid as they are counter-attacking Russian forces. I think it's going to be dark over there for a bit, and the Russian communications will be more challenging than they already were. (I have not updated my contact lines in quite a while and that info is dated.)   

image.png.20333340297d87db369acdf8d9c4c231.png

 

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