Ukraine’s November 2025 campaign of long-range strikes turned Russia’s rear areas into active battlefields, demolishing aircraft, fuel infrastructure, air defenses, and training bases once considered out of reach. Ukrainian commanders described an effort aimed not just at equipment, but at the systems that sustain Russia’s war.
Precision Strikes Deep in Russian Territory
According to Ukraine’s General Staff, Ukrainian forces destroyed about 400 Russian military assets in November 2025, focusing on command posts, radar sites, logistics hubs, and training centers far from the front line. These were deliberately chosen targets: facilities that trained soldiers, launched drones, serviced aircraft, or repaired armored vehicles.
The attacks often took place hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory, with some operations reportedly reaching more than 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine. Jet-powered drones, cruise missiles such as Neptune, and systems adapted from civilian technology were employed in coordinated strikes across multiple regions. Analysts said the pattern of simultaneous hits suggested planning over many months and a move toward industrial-scale, long-range warfare.
Rare Experimental Aircraft Lost
One of the most notable incidents came on November 25 at the Taganrog Aircraft Repair Plant, a key site for Russia’s aviation industry and weapons testing. Satellite images released afterward showed serious damage at the facility and the destruction of a rare A-60 laser airborne platform, an experimental aircraft of which only a small number were believed to exist.
Nearby, an Il-76 military transport aircraft designated as an A-100LL testbed aircraft was also seen destroyed. Russian authorities claimed they had intercepted 259 Ukrainian drones that night, but commercial satellite imagery indicated that several Ukrainian missiles or drones penetrated defenses and struck their targets. Repair shops at Taganrog appeared heavily damaged or out of operation in the aftermath.
Days later, on the night of November 28–29, Ukrainian forces struck the same Beriev Aircraft Repair Plant facility again, this time targeting the Tu-95 strategic bomber repair workshop, igniting a fire inside and causing additional damage.
Attacks on Drone Hubs and Fuel Facilities
In occupied Crimea on November 28, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces reported a strike on a storage and logistics site used for Shahed-type drones, the loitering munitions Russia has relied on to hit Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. The base reportedly held both strike and reconnaissance drones and was protected by modern air defense systems.
Satellite imagery and Ukrainian military reporting indicated that Pantsir S1 and Tor-M2 air defense units guarding the site were destroyed, along with hangars used for drone storage. The loss was significant for Russia’s drone campaign, as the facility served as a staging point for attacks on Ukrainian urban centers.
At the same time, Ukrainian forces escalated attacks on Russia’s fuel infrastructure. On November 25, Ukrainian forces destroyed an RV-5000 fuel storage tank at the Tuapse marine oil terminal on the Black Sea coast, a facility capable of holding thousands of tons of fuel. Additional strikes on the Saratov Oil Refinery and Tuapse refinery followed on November 27–28. Ukrainian planners described these as overnight operations aimed at disabling refineries and power substations, reducing the fuel available for trucks, tanks, and helicopters.
Air Defenses and Training Bases Under Pressure
Over a span of several days in late November, at least three Russian air defense systems were reported destroyed, with an estimated combined value of around $60 million. Beyond their monetary cost, each loss represented crews with years of specialized training and operational experience. Ukrainian officials argued that these hits eroded Russia’s capacity to protect key facilities deep in its own territory.
Training grounds and barracks also came under attack. Ukrainian forces targeted camps preparing new conscripts for deployment, striking facilities across multiple Russian regions. For recruits arriving in late November, the rear areas no longer resembled safe zones: some camps showed evidence of recent strikes, damaged buildings, and hastily relocated command posts. The impact was both practical and psychological, complicating the process of training and rotating fresh troops to the front.
Evidence From Space and Shifting Battlefield Logic
The scale of destruction was documented in near real time. Independent analysts and open-source researchers used commercial satellite constellations and geolocation techniques to compare images of Russian sites before and after reported strikes. At Taganrog, imagery showed the A-60 platform gone from its usual position and key workshops visibly damaged or burned out. In Crimea and at oil facilities like Tuapse and Saratov, scorched storage tanks, damaged infrastructure, and cratered grounds were visible from orbit.
Ukrainian officials and drone unit commanders shared select images and videos, including time-stamped footage of impacts, on public platforms. This allowed journalists and researchers to verify many claims without access to the sites themselves, undercutting Russian statements that large-scale attacks had been repelled or had caused only minor damage.
By the end of November, Ukraine’s General Staff assessed that repeated strikes had degraded elements of Russia’s war infrastructure: command posts, radar installations, fuel depots, training centers, and repair plants. Ukrainian strategists described the overall approach as targeting the “pipeline” that sustains front-line units, rather than focusing solely on trenches and positions at the contact line.
As winter advanced, Russia continued offensive efforts along sections of the front, while Ukraine intensified long-range operations against facilities supporting those offensives. The effect was to blur traditional distinctions between front and rear. For Russian commanders, previously secure locations now faced persistent risk from missiles and drones launched from hundreds of kilometers away. For Ukraine, the expanding reach of its strike capabilities signaled an evolution from defensive survival toward the sustained ability to project force deep into Russian territory.
Military analysts noted that this shift could shape the next phase of the conflict. If Ukraine can continue to hold Russian forces at the front while disrupting training, fuel supply, aircraft maintenance, and drone operations in the rear, pressure on Russia’s overall war effort may grow over time. At the same time, Russia is expected to adapt by dispersing assets, hardening critical sites, and repositioning key facilities further from Ukrainian strike range, setting the stage for an ongoing contest between offensive reach and defensive resilience.
Sources:
Ukraine General Staff November 2025 strike summary
Ukrainian Special Operations Forces statement on Shahed drone hub in Crimea (Cape Chauda/Saky), Nov. 27–28, 2025
Satellite imagery and analysis of A-60/A-100 destruction at Taganrog Beriev plant
Reuters reporting on Saratov oil refinery shutdown after Ukrainian drone attacks, November 2025