How Ukraine’s deepest attack in Russia, on Arctic gas, signals new reach

EXPLAINERLong-range Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s key gas plants, raising questions about the conflict’s next phase.Published On 10 Sep 2026Ukraine launched its deepest-ever attack into Russia, targeting two Arctic gas condensate facilities more than 3,000km (1,865 miles) from its border, on Wednesday, signalling that Ukraine has further developed its military capabilities as the Russia-Ukraine-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1200" data-entity-type="event">Russia-Ukraine war continues through its fifth year.Unconfirmed videos circulating on social media show large clouds of thick, dark smoke and fire at the Novy Urengoy plant in western Siberia, recorded from a distance. Dmitry Artyukhov, the governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug region, wrote on Telegram that the drone attacks had been intercepted and “debris from the drone caused a fire upon impact”. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Zelenskyy’s plane ‘almost hit’ by drone on way to Oslo, Norwegian PM sayslist 2 of 3Trump says Putin wants to make a deal to end Ukraine warlist 3 of 3Russian attacks kill 7 in Ukraine as Kyiv targets gas plants deep in Arcticend of listSince the start of the war, Ukraine has dramatically increased its capacity for the mass production of low-cost drones and has more recently been specifically targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure and logistical hubs.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the latest long-range attack “completely justified” on social media. It came just days after special United States envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv with new proposals to end the war, although no specific details were shared on the new proposals.While attacks on Russia’s and Ukraine’s capitals were halted during the three-day visit earlier this week, they immediately resumed following their departure.But what does this new, long-range capability on Ukraine’s side mean for the next phase of the Russian-Ukrainian war?What do we know about the Ukrainian drones used in the strike?The Ukrainian Armed Forces says it hit two critical Russian gas processing plants, in Novy Urengoy and Purovsky district, with FP-1 drones produced by Fire Point, a Ukrainian company specialising in the production of long-range drones.