The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated on Friday alone: ”Two key Russian oil refining facilities are out of service. The Lukoil refinery in Kstovo, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, halted operations after our attack on August 26. The NOVATEK-Ust-Luga complex in the Leningrad region has been out of service since September 1. Both facilities supply the Russian armed forces. Work continues on key enemy infrastructure.” A depot in Sochi, in the Russian region of Krasnodar Krai, was also hit. In reality, oil from refineries and depots also supplies civilian service stations, which, as usual, are the first victims of critical infrastructure in both Russia and Ukraine.
After deep-sea strikes against refineries and oil depots, Ukraine, through its Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky, threatened civil aviation. Yes, stating that “Russian skies are unsafe for aircraft because of Ukrainian drones.” According to Russian social media sources: “This topic—threat to Russian skies, ed.—immediately became a hot topic, and the discussion shifted to the political and propaganda level. In reality, this ‘media attack’ was precisely what Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s team was looking for.”
From Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reassured: “There will be no separate meeting on the situation of Russian aviation following Zelenskyy’s statements: there is no need for one.” “There is no need for one now,” the presidential spokesman declared. Previously, Vladimir Putin had noted that the Kiev regime’s threats against Russian civilian airports constituted state terrorism and that “we will find a way to respond.”
According to OSINT sources who analyzed Zelensky’s statement: “Information that Ukraine was planning to attack Russian airfields and possibly even airliners emerged during the resignation of former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The Atlantic wrote about the plan for the operation, dubbed ‘M&Ms.’ Journalists attributed the development of the plan for this attack, as well as the technical preparations, to the technocratic genius of the former head of the military department.”
According to OSINT sources, “Fedorov’s role in this project has actually been greatly exaggerated.” According to the Russians: “The idea of an attack on Russian aircraft originated within the General Intelligence Directorate. The Department of Active Operations, specifically the ‘Primary’ (Phantom) unit, was supposed to be responsible for it. This unit operates using human intelligence methods, but its primary tool is drones, from standard FPV drones to specially modified ‘long-range’ drones. It is highly likely that American specialists, most likely from the CIA and possibly even the US Air Force, provided technical advice and planning assistance.”
According to Russian OSINT groups, the attacks could be carried out using: “mother drones, which are essentially a moving aerial minefield. And now the system for dispersing aircraft during attacks will not work. After all, such a curtain could be deployed over a significant number of airfields at any time.”
Meanwhile, Sergei Naryshkin, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, said: “The West has invented a new ‘axis of evil’ consisting of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, which they call the ‘axis of disintegration.’”
Graziella Giangiulio
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