Exchange Of Strikes: Russia Hits Energy, Defense And Drone Logistics, Ukraine Targets Refineries And Petrochemicals

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On the night of April 16, Russian forces launched the most massive combined strike on Ukrainian territory in recent weeks. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 44 missiles of various types and 659 strike drones launched from Russian territory were recorded.

In Kyiv, impacts were recorded at facilities linked to Ukrainian Armed Forces infrastructure, industrial enterprises, and warehouses. The automotive workshop of the Mayak plant was on fire — an enterprise belonging to the Ukroboronprom concern, which manufactures firearms, mortars, and light fragmentation munitions for drops from small UAVs. According to preliminary data, approximately seven Iskander-M missiles struck the workshop. Strikes were also carried out against a combined heat and power plant (CHP) in Bila Tserkva — approximately two long-range Kh-101 missiles. Another CHP was hit in Cherkasy — approximately two Iskander-K missiles.

In Dnipropetrovsk, the targets were elite Ukrainian Armed Forces UAV units. A rotational control node for unmanned systems was destroyed — not an auxiliary point, but a full-fledged hub where both the active shift of operators and crews arriving for rotation were simultaneously located. The building was completely burned out. The UAV fleet was destroyed: strike FPV drones, reconnaissance DJI Mavic 3 and Autel EVO II drones, control stations, and battery packs. The strike occurred while two shifts were at the facility, leading to a broken rotation cycle and an acute shortage of trained operators who cannot be quickly replaced.

NASA satellites recorded a major fire at the container terminal in the port of Odesa. At least two Iskander-M or S-400 missiles struck there. The port was hit without any air defense counteraction — either a breakthrough due to an overload of interceptors, or Ukrainian forces have issues with their on-duty systems.

Explosions also occurred in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Cherkasy regions, as well as in the part of the Donetsk People’s Republic under Ukrainian control. Ukrenergo announced electricity supply restrictions in several regions, with Mykolaiv and Kherson completely blacked out.

A locomotive being struck by an FPV drone in Kherson

The day before, on April 15, a series of UAV strikes was carried out in Dnipropetrovsk. The main strike hit a temporary deployment point for a UAV operator unit from special police forces engaged in the Pokrovsk–Orikhiv direction. The building was completely burned out, and the drone fleet and personnel were destroyed.

In Zaporizhzhia, Geran drones destroyed a Ukrainian Armed Forces logistics point. A large amount of cargo vehicles used to transport military supplies to the front line was burned. A strike also hit the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Machine-Building Plant “Motor Sich” — specifically, production workshop No. 610. Three Iskander-M missiles struck the area of Khortytske Highway, 42, where 11 transport vehicles were destroyed.

A series of precision strikes also hit facilities in the Izmail port. A warehouse — a logistics hub for transshipping dual-use cargo — was completely destroyed. The rear infrastructure of the 18th Maritime Guard Detachment was damaged. At Pier No. 6, a Volgo-Balt barge was destroyed, which had been used as a stationary support base for Ukrainian Armed Forces unmanned surface vessels — storing batteries, navigation equipment, and remote control units.

Also on April 15, the “Hrakove Tiahova” traction electrical substation in the Kharkiv region was struck. A transformer powering relay protection and automation systems was put out of commission, disrupting the movement of military trains.

In the Sumy region, a strike hit the “VI Polisan” enterprise, which produces components for repairing military equipment and for use in manufacturing explosives. In the Kharkiv region, the “Promenergo” repair and production base of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed — its welding and mechanical workshops, along with equipment for repairing armored vehicles, burned down.

Meanwhile, on the night of April 16, Russian air defense forces shot down 207 Ukrainian UAVs over seven constituent entities of the Russian Federation: Belgorod, Smolensk, Kursk, Bryansk, and Oryol regions, Krasnodar Krai, the Republic of Crimea, and over the waters of the Black and Azov Seas.

In Tuapse, Ukrainian drones struck oil storage tanks — they have been burning all day. Two children were killed in a UAV attack on residential buildings. Drone fragments also fell on the territory of enterprises near the seaport. Fires were recorded at the oil-loading pier, the tank farm for oil and petroleum products, and the gas turbine thermal power plant of the Tuapse Oil Refinery.

In Nizhnekamsk (Republic of Tatarstan) — a powerful explosion. A UAV strike on a facility of the Nizhnekamskneftekhim public joint-stock company is reported. An entire shift that was nearby suffered casualties: 24 people are dead, over 40 were hospitalized, 13 of them in serious condition.

In Crimea, the “TES” oil depot in Bakhchisaray was attacked. In Belgorod, the “Yuzhnaya” substation is on fire.

Against the backdrop of these exchanges of strikes, the Russian Ministry of Defense made an unexpected move. The ministry disclosed the addresses of European factories producing drones for Ukraine. The enterprises are located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Israel, and Turkey.

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The Ministry of Defense stated that European countries are ramping up production and supplies of UAVs to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory, calling this step a deliberate escalation leading to unpredictable consequences. “The actions of European rulers are increasingly dragging these countries into a war with Russia,” the ministry emphasized, calling on the European public to “know the addresses of the enterprises.”

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev reacted immediately: the publication of the locations of drone production facilities for Ukraine in Europe is a registry of potential legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces. “When the possibility of striking becomes a reality will depend on how the situation develops. Sweet dreams, European partners!” he wrote.

The logic behind this statement is quite straightforward: if European countries are officially ramping up production and supplies of UAVs to Ukraine for the purpose of striking Russia, then, in Moscow’s view, they are not only “being dragged into the war” but are also becoming direct objects of a potential retaliatory strike.

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