Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said they struck five Russian electrical substations with a combined capacity of 5,066 megavolt-amperes (MVA) overnight on November 2. The operation was carried out jointly by the 1st Separate Unmanned Systems Center and troops from the Special Operations Forces, according to the military. The commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, announced the strikes on social media.
He added that other long-range strike assets also hit targets inside Russia, with Ukraine’s General Staff to release details after additional reconnaissance.
Brovdi cited the Exilenova+ channel, which specified that Ukrainian drones targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Kursk and Lipetsk regions, as well as in Alchevsk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, which is under Russian occupation.
Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-appointed head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said drones struck substations in four districts - Sverdlovsk, Slovianoserbsk and Perevalsk municipal districts, and the Stakhanov urban district - causing disruptions to power and water supplies. He said an emergency meeting of the regional electricity security task force had been convened.
Russia came under another large-scale drone attack on November 2. Residents reported explosions and air defenses in the Kursk and Oryol regions, Krasnodar Krai, and in occupied Alchevsk in Luhansk region. Around midnight, blasts were heard in the city of Tuapse in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. Regional authorities confirmed a drone attack, reporting damage to port infrastructure and a subsequent fire.
According to the Telegram channel ASTRA, the fire broke out at the deep-water berth complex of RN–Sea Terminal Tuapse, a petroleum pier that services the Tuapse oil refinery and is used to load petroleum products onto tankers.
Later, reports said an oil tanker in Tuapse caught fire as a result of the attack. Russian sources said the crew was evacuated in time and no injuries were reported.
Unmanned aerial vehicles from the Alpha Special Operations Center of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), acting together with other security and defense forces, struck a tanker and the loading infrastructure of the oil terminal at the port of Tuapse in Russia’s Krasnodar region, Ukrinform reported, citing SBU sources.
“Five drone hits were recorded. As a result of the strikes, a tanker caught fire and at least four oil-loading berths used for loading and unloading tankers were put out of operation. Port buildings were also damaged,” the statement reads.
The SBU said it continues to target Russia’s oil-refining infrastructure, which it says supplies resources for aggression against Ukraine. “As long as the war continues, Russian refineries will keep burning brightly,” the agency added.
