Ukraine Takes Out Fuel Used by Putin’s War Machine

Kyiv targeted at least two Russian distilleries overnight, according to Ukrainian and Russian sources, as Ukraine plugs away with its efforts to cut Moscow off from resources supporting its grinding war effort.

Drones “attacked another distillery,” around 150 miles from the Ukrainian border, Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Kyiv’s National Security and Defense Council, said in a post to messaging app Telegram on Monday. Kovalenko said in a separate statement that drones had attacked a distillery in Krasnoye, just northwest of the Anninsky district.

“Russian distilleries make rocket and aviation fuel, explosives,” Kovalenko said.

Alexander Gusev, Voronezh regional governor, said in a post to Telegram early on Monday that Ukrainian drones had attacked two unspecified “enterprises” in the region overnight.

Empty drink bottles lie on the station grounds, including Russian vodka in Cottbus, Germany. Inset: Video of fire ripping through Russian distillery in Voronezh after a drone attack. Distilleries that produce vodka in Russia, and…
Empty drink bottles lie on the station grounds, including Russian vodka in Cottbus, Germany. Inset: Video of fire ripping through Russian distillery in Voronezh after a drone attack. Distilleries that produce vodka in Russia, and reportedly repurposed to making fuel for military vehicles, have come under attack from Ukraine drones.
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Frank Hammerschmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images/Telegram/Newsweek screengrab

Two employees were injured during an attack on a facility in the Anninsky district east of the regional capital, Gusev said. A fire “damaged several buildings and structures of various purposes, as well as equipment,” before being extinguished, Gusev added.

The roof of an outbuilding and a tank were damaged at a second facility in the Novokhopersky District to the southeast of Anninsky when a drone fell, Gusev said.

Several Kremlin-linked Russian Telegram channels said that Kyiv had targeted two distilleries in Anninsky and Novokhopersky.

Russian independent news outlet Astra shared footage it said showed a fire at the Anninsky distillery, which Newsweek could not independently verify. Local residents reported a drone strike on Krasnoe overnight, according to the outlet.

Moscow’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that its air defenses had downed one Ukrainian drone over Voronezh through the night, but did not mention multiple uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) nor attacks on specific facilities.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Ukraine has doggedly targeted Russian sites used to prop up Moscow’s war effort, including air bases, oil refineries and ammunition depots.

Kyiv uses drones in these strikes, as long-range Western weapons still off-limits for attacks deep into Russia, with Ukraine’s backers wary of Moscow’s response. Ukrainian officials have long protested against this restriction.

On October 22, Kovalenko said Ukraine had attacked four Russian distilleries across the country, including one in Voronezh. Kyiv also attacked two distilleries in the Tula region, south of Moscow, and in the Tambov region northeast of Voronezh.

Maxim Egorov, Tambov regional governor, said at the time that a drone had caused an explosion and a fire at a facility named as the Biokhim plant.

Kovalenko said this was one of the plants Ukraine had targeted, which produced molasses and ethanol. “These are all military objects, despite being disguised as something else,” the Ukrainian official said.