Voronezh, Luhansk, Perm: Ukrainian Deep Strikes Test Russia’s Rear-Area Security
Ukrainian missiles and drones have hit targets from Voronezh and Luhansk to Perm and Nizhny Novgorod, reaching airbases, an industrial valve plant, a chemical facility, and a Russian tax data center. The campaign pushes the war ever deeper into Russian-held territory and forces Moscow to choose between shielding its rear and sustaining front-line firepower.
Ukraine has opened a fresh round of long-range strikes across Russian territory and occupied regions, targeting air power, logistics and infrastructure far beyond the front lines in an effort to stretch Moscow’s defenses and raise the war’s cost at home.
Russian and Ukrainian sources report that cruise missiles struck the Voronezh area overnight. According to Russian information, three FP-5 Flamingo missiles hit targets around Voronezh, with preliminary claims pointing to the Malshevo Air Base, known as Baltimore, which hosts Su-34 strike aircraft. Independent geolocation work suggests the impacts were near the former Voronezh Military Aviation Engineering University and a nearby military facility. Russian aviation-linked channels, including the prominent Fighterbomber account, acknowledged the strike and mocked local air defenses, while warning residents against posting images.
At the same time, Ukrainian drones have pushed deeper into Russia’s industrial and information backbone. Long-range UAVs attacked the Azot chemical plant in Berezniki, Perm Krai, causing a large fire, according to local reporting. Azot produces chemicals and fertilizers, but any prolonged disruption also affects industrial supply chains that feed into military logistics. Another drone strike hit a data center belonging to Russia’s Federal Tax Service in Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, highlighting Ukraine’s growing interest in digital and bureaucratic infrastructure as legitimate targets.
In occupied territory, Ukraine appears to be methodically grinding at the logistics that keep Russian forces supplied. Overnight strikes hit the Marshal plant in Luhansk, a dual-use industrial facility that manufactures heavy-duty taps and all-welded pipeline valves used in fuel and infrastructure networks. Russian sources conceded the plant’s interior was damaged and reported significant fire. Ukrainian forces also attacked Luhansk City again with mid-range drones, reportedly targeting communications infrastructure and causing disruptions to electricity, water, and telecom services across large parts of the city.
Ukraine’s General Staff says its forces struck a string of Russian targets on 22 October and into the night: a UAV storage, preparation and launch site near Donetsk; a command post near Hromove in occupied Crimea; ammunition and drone depots; and logistics warehouses in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as a concentration area for personnel from Russia’s Rubicon unit. Separately, Ukrainian drones hit warehouses on the grounds of a cannery in Valuyki, Belgorod region, that were reportedly being used by the Russian military.
For civilians in places like Luhansk and Perm, the effect is immediate and blunt. Power cuts, water interruptions and fires at industrial plants are now part of daily life in areas that the Kremlin has presented as stable and secure. Factory workers and data center staff, many of whom may have had little direct connection to the fighting, are suddenly operating on a live front of an air and drone war.
Militarily, these attacks force the Russian high command to make hard choices. Every air defense system moved to protect facilities in Voronezh, Perm or Nizhny Novgorod is one less battery guarding ammunition depots or troop concentrations closer to the front. Repeated hits on UAV hubs, logistics warehouses and industrial valve production aim to thin the flow of drones, ammunition and fuel to Russian units in occupied Ukraine over time.
Rear areas are only rear areas until enemy drones and missiles can reach them. Once they are in range, depots, plants and data centers turn into another front line — one with direct political visibility in Russian cities the Kremlin has tried to keep insulated from the war.
The next indicators will be how Russia reshuffles its air defenses, whether it disperses aircraft and munitions from key hubs like Baltimore Air Base, and how quickly damaged industrial sites like the Marshal plant and Azot in Berezniki return to operation. Further Ukrainian claims of deep strikes, combined with Russian acknowledgements or visible fires and outages, will show whether this is a one-off surge or the new rhythm of a sustained campaign against the Russian rear.
Sources
- OSINT