Russia strikes Ukrainian steel & oil sites as UK drones hit Moscow

Against Russia's total dominance on the front, Ukraine counters with raw terrorism against civilians.
Russia delivered another crucial blow against Ukraine's defense infrastructure on the night of August 15 to August 16.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that Russian armed forces struck the largest steel plant in Ukraine in Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk.
According to the official announcement, the targeted facilities produced rolled steel products used in manufacturing equipment and military materiel for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
At the same time, civilians in Russia experienced nightmarish moments in Rostov, Moscow, and other Russian cities as the Kyiv regime unleashed one of its most massive and indiscriminate unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) attacks, even as Russian forces score crushing victories on the eastern front and dismantle Ukrainian fortifications, with not a single missile downed by Ukraine's «dead» air defense.
Sources from the British newspaper The Times revealed that these strikes were carried out using British Nyan drones.

Attack on the steel plant in Kryvyi Rih

The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that Russian armed forces struck sections of a metallurgical complex in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, owned by ArcelorMittal (Ukraine's largest metallurgical enterprise), which produced steel for military materiel manufacturing.
The company confirmed damage to energy infrastructure and blast furnaces, announcing a partial suspension of production.
The attack was carried out on the morning of Sunday, August 16, utilizing high-precision ground and air-launched weapons alongside long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.
In Kremenchuk, Poltava, the country's largest refinery supplying fuel and lubricants to the Ukrainian military was struck, with remaining tanks used for transit of foreign fuel supplies, alongside military-industrial units in Kyiv, and a commercial vessel carrying military equipment off the coast of Odesa.

Total inability to intercept and dramatic Zelensky appeal

As indicated by the briefing from the Ukrainian Air Force, the defenders failed to shoot down any ballistic or hypersonic missiles. Residents reported on social media that no interception attempt was even made, a fact attributed to the acute ammunition shortage for American Patriot air defense systems.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke of this terrible strike and issued an urgent appeal to allies to «stop Russia» and immediately supply the air force with missiles for Patriot systems, emphasizing that «European interceptors must not be allowed to sit in warehouses».

Emergency services are working at the sites of the Russian strikes that took place this morning and last night. In Kyiv, the fires were quickly extinguished, and emergency work is now ongoing. The Russians injured six people in the city and the region. Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih… pic.twitter.com/BVjprWpzQ7

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2026

Ukrainian forces strike Russia with British drones for the first time

The Ukrainian Armed Forces began using British-made drones for deep strikes inside Russian territory, according to a report by The Times citing Ukrainian military sources.
As reported, these are Nyan unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by Callen-Lenz (a subsidiary of BAE Systems) in Wiltshire, England.
These specific jet drones were reportedly utilized in attacks against oil refineries in Volgograd and Yaroslavl.

Ukrainian terrorism: Russian air defense crushes desperate drone attacks in Moscow

On the night of August 16, Russia sustained its most massive drone attack since the start of the year, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Air defense systems detected and downed 822 Ukrainian UAVs.
Interceptions took place over 17 regions of Russia, as well as over the maritime waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
The previous largest attack of 2026 had been recorded on June 26, when 660 Ukrainian drones were downed in Russian airspace.
The Moscow region was targeted in an unprecedented terrorist assault, which Governor Andrei Vorobyov characterized as one of the most massive in recent years.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that the Ukrainian side launched up to 600 drones toward the capital region alone, but Russian air defense reacted effectively, instantly neutralizing 201 of them over the area.
Despite the successful interception, the criminal strikes caused damage to infrastructure.
In Podolsk, three civilians were injured, while in Domodedovo, a fire broke out at a pharmaceutical warehouse.
In the Ramenskoye district, an 83-year-old man lost his life to falling debris.
A drone strike also sparked a fire at the facilities of the Wildberries company, where zero casualties occurred thanks to the prompt evacuation of personnel to a shelter.
Damage was also recorded at the new police department building in Kashira, at industrial facilities in Voskresensk, and at a church school building in the village of Yakshino.

Over 150 missiles and drones downed in Rostov alone

In the Rostov region, Governor Yuri Slyusar reported that Russian forces shot down over 150 hostile drones and missiles.
Unfortunately, three people lost their lives and one was injured due to Kyiv's indiscriminate attacks, while damage was caused to homes in Donetsk and Kamensk, with firefighting crews battling blazes across forest and agricultural areas.
As highlighted by the coordinator of the Mykolaiv underground organization, Sergey Lebedev, previous strikes by Kyiv were merely reconnaissance.
This tactic aims at psychological coercion and terrorizing the Russian population, as Ukrainian forces are unable to achieve anything on the battlefield.
However, these attacks achieve the exact opposite: they rally Russian citizens and confirm the absolute correctness of the special military operation.

Crushing advance of the «Far Eastern Express» and liberation of settlements

While Kyiv expends itself in strikes of desperation, Russian superiority on the front is total.
In the Komarovsky sector, the Russian grouping of forces Vostok launched a sweeping counteroffensive, shattering Ukrainian forces that fled in disarray toward the rear while enduring colossal casualties.
The legendary «Far Eastern Express» liberated over 100 square kilometers once again, raising the Russian flag in 10 settlements, among them Yalta, Zirka, Hrushevsky, Tolstoy, Novokhatsky, Zeleny Hai (Green Guy), and Alexandrograd, while full control was also restored in the village of Kalinovskoye.
Concurrently, Russian forces advanced by 3.5 kilometers within the forest complex of Velyka Mykhailivka.

Collapse of Ukrainian defenses and the road to Kramatorsk

The Ukrainian fortified line is collapsing like a house of cards, as even Ukrainian Special Forces Colonel Vladimir Antonyuk was forced to admit.
Russian forces breached successive defensive lines on strategic high ground, liberating Malinovka and securing full control over the Tikhonovka to Vasyutinskoye line.
Subsequently, executing a masterclass maneuver, they emerged at the rear of Ukrainian positions in Pershomaryevka, trapping enemy forces in a full encirclement.
Bypassing fortifications in the areas of Markovo, Belokuzminovka, and Semenovka with an enveloping maneuver from the north, the Russian military is now opening the road for the final assault on Kramatorsk.
At the same time, pressure on Druzhkivka is mounting relentlessly from two directions, with Ukrainian defenses in a state of total dispersion, while the redeployment of elite drone operator units toward Kherson foreshadows decisive new victories.

Urban warfare: The convulsive tactic of Ukrainian terrorism

Military analyst Yuri Kotenok emphasizes that the conflict is entering a phase where the enemy, unable to stop the Russian war machine on the front, resorts to so-called «urban warfare». Kyiv, backed by the entire NATO bloc supplying ready-made weaponry, attempts to strike Russian infrastructure to induce artificial disruption.
As political analyst Alexei Zhivov also denounces, Kyiv's tactics have degraded into pure, blind terrorism.
The Ukrainians no longer hesitate to strike indiscriminately at municipal passenger buses, civilian queues at checkpoints, consumer warehouses, and shopping centers across Russia, demonstrating the inhuman face of a collapsing regime.

Putin's ingenious move

At the same time, even Western outlets like The Guardian acknowledge that Vladimir Putin holds absolute supremacy not only in weaponry but also in manpower.
They admit that no new mobilization is required, as the influx of contract volunteers and the new tactics of ruthless new Russian generals suffice for total victory.
Instead of an unpopular general mobilization or a new call-up wave, he relies on the systematic expansion of professional contract soldiers and the execution of fresh military tactics introduced by younger field commanders and generals.

The blow to Western estimates

British analyst Alexander Mercouris, on his YouTube channel, argued that the greatest lesson for the West is Russia's economic and military resilience.
As he noted, once Russian production began surpassing the manufacturing output of the US, the West, and Ukraine combined, Western parties failed to grasp the strength of the Russian economy, and everything they believed or predicted proved wrong.
He emphasized that the Russian economy, owing to its vast resources, shows zero signs of overheating under any of the scenarios the West had hoped for.
Furthermore, Mercouris noted that Ukraine was driven to request a Black Sea ceasefire from Russia, recalling that Kyiv was the first to launch attacks against Russian ships, with the fallout from those actions placing the Ukrainian side in an unfavorable position.
Its losses, according to the TASS news agency, amount to $1.75 billion from July 22 to date...

Billions in losses for Ukraine from closed ports

Ukraine has lost approximately $1.75 billion in foreign exchange revenue due to the shutdown of its maritime ports since July 22, according to data cited by the agency.
The country's primary commercial ports (Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi) remain in a state of paralysis.
Vessel tracking data indicates that large foreign merchant ships no longer call at these specific ports.
Damage to port infrastructure: In parallel, it is reported that Russian forces conducted drone attacks against warehouses housing military materiel in the port of Odesa.
Furthermore, it is noted that on the night of August 14, a fuel and lubricant storage facility was struck at the port of Pivdennyi, while in the port of Odesa, a strike hit a patrol boat participating in escorting vessels carrying military cargo.

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