Ukrainian long-range drones struck targets across several Russian regions overnight on 27 July, hitting sites from the front line to more than a thousand kilometers inside the country, monitoring channels reported. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the attacks and tied them to what he calls Ukraine's plan of long-range sanctions on Moscow's war economy. The targets ran from a sea-port terminal near the war zone to oil infrastructure deep in Russia's rear.

Belgorod: a strike near the FSB, then a missile system detonated

In Belgorod, drones hit near the Federal Security Service (FSB) compound, Russia's domestic security agency, while more explosions and fires were recorded elsewhere in the city, local outlet Pepel reported. Ukrainian reports also listed Interior Ministry offices among the targets. 

Ukraine likely struck an air-defense system in the city too. Footage shared by Exilenova+ showed a fixed-wing drone hitting a target in the center, followed by a detonation typical of a solid-fuel missile and a column of black smoke, Militarnyi reported.

Belgorod's operational headquarters confirmed the attack, claiming several apartments and more than 15 parked cars caught fire. Parts of the city lost power and water, Pepel noted.

Rostov-on-Don: fire at the sea port

At Rostov-on-Don, Astra placed the strike at the sea trade port, with smoke rising over its fourth cargo district by morning. The port sits on the Don River but holds sea-port status in the Azov–Black Sea basin, handling foreign-flagged ships bound for the Black Sea and Mediterranean.

At the time of the strike, ship-tracking service MarineTraffic showed five civilian vessels in the Don near the city, Militarnyi reported. Rostov's governor, Yuri Slyusar, claimed fires at a private enterprise and warehouses, though his casualty figures shifted between statements.

The port already runs at minimal capacity amid Operation MoLoChKa—whose stylized name abbreviates “Moscow will fall through Crimea”—Ukraine's campaign against Russian maritime logistics, including the shadow fleet that circumvents sanctions to transport oil. Its drones have struck 200 vessels in the Azov and Black seas, according to the current stats on the drone forces website.

Udmurtia: explosions 1,300 km away

Far to the east, explosions hit the Udmurt Republic near Sarapul, Astra reported, and Exilenova+ noted smoke on the town's outskirts. The head of the republic, Aleksandr Brechalov, claimed air defenses were repelling a large attack and that several drones were shot down. 

Zelenskyy and the General Staff confirm

Zelenskyy confirmed drones hit an export terminal in Rostov Oblast, about 250 kilometers from the front line. Deep strikes also hit oil facilities in Yaroslavl Oblast and the Udmurt Republic, roughly 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine's border, he said. 

"This night our long-range sanctions worked in Rostov Oblast," he wrote, saying the strikes reduce Russia's ability to finance the war. 

Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck the Rostov-on-Don terminal, recording a hit followed by a fire.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it downed 276 drones overnight, without saying how many got through. 

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A week earlier, Ukraine's Security Service said drones damaged the tank farm of the Subkhankulovo oil-pumping station in Bashkortostan, then the agency's farthest strike at 1,350 kilometers.

On 25 June, Ukrainian drones hit the Tyumen oil refinery some 2,000 km out and set fire to a Wildberries warehouse in Yekaterinburg roughly 1,800 km away.

Ukrainian drone operators hit the S-400 Russian long-range air-defense battery in occupied Crimea overnight, Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) reported on 27 July. They burned a missile launcher and the radar that lets the system detect incoming aircraft and missiles, then published video of the strikes. 

The strike

Overnight on 25–26 July 2026, operators from HUR's Unmanned Systems Department tracked down a Russian S-400 Triumf system on the occupied peninsula. They set fire to its launcher and to the 96L6 radar that feeds it targeting data, the agency reported while sharing the footage. The S-400 is one of Moscow's high-value air-defense complexes.

The video first follows the point of view of a one-way attack UAV — a cheap drone built to crash into its target — as it approaches the parked launcher, the picture cutting out the instant it hits. A second drone films the blast from a distance. A third then lines up the system's radar.

Ukrainian units have torched S-400 radars and launchers on the peninsula before, part of a steady push against Russia's air cover, targeting long-, medium-, and short-range systems, different types of surveillance radar, and even the mobile fire groups — the drone-hunting squads with machine guns.

What the S-400 and its radar do

The S-400 Triumf is Russia's long- and medium-range air-defense system, built to shoot down aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Depending on the missile it carries, it can engage aerodynamic targets up to 400 km away and ballistic targets up to 60 km with its 40N6E and 48N6 interceptors.

The wider squeeze on Crimea

The strike came amid a run of attacks tightening around the occupied peninsula. Overnight on 27 July, explosions were followed by power outages reported in at least Simferopol and Sevastopol. Fire broke out at a main substation in Bakhchysarai and near the Black Sea Fleet's 133rd separate logistics brigade close by.

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A night earlier, Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a Chornomornaftogaz gas facility near Vnukove and a relay station used to guide Russia's Geran and Gerbera long-range attack drones near Chornomorske.

Occupied Yalta stayed without power as of 26 July. In nearby Alushta and its villages, occupation authorities declared a state of emergency on 25 July after more than 48 hours of darkness, opening the door to cash compensation for residents. Yalta's occupiers instead set up so-called assistance centers where people can charge phones, power banks, and flashlights, under restrictions and video surveillance. Some residents complain that poor-quality fuel may be causing their generators to fail.