This week, the Ukrainians attacked distilleries deep in <a href="http://www.time.news/mega-storm-hits-southern-russia-and-ukraine/" title="“Mega storm” hits southern Russia and Ukraine“>Russia using drones. These are non-traditional targets, usually drones attack military facilities or fuel depots. On closer inspection, however, it seems that even this attack did not deviate from the well-established formula of harming Russia as much as possible in war maneuvers.
Footage shows the consequences of an attack by Ukrainian drones on a distillery in Yefremov, Russia | Video: Telegram
According to the governor of the Tula region in Russia, Dmitry Milyaev, the drones hit distilleries in Yefremov and Luzhovsky. The governor of the Tambov region, Maxim Yegorov, said the drones struck the Biochim Enterprise plant in Rasskozov, about 288 kilometers southeast of Moscow, and caused a fire.
While the aforementioned attacks are consistent with Ukraine’s tactic of using drones to strike far beyond Russia’s borders, one thing about the attacks stood out. Ukrainian troops usually choose military warehouses, factories or oil refineries as targets.
Photos of the aftermath of the Jefremov strike appeared on social media, showing sites near the distillery, including a burning synthetic rubber plant and power plant. “If you destroy vodka, you destroy Russia. Simple,” quipped analyst Ian Garner on X, formerly Twitter.
According to the Business Insider server, Ukrainians were not primarily interested in alcohol intended for the production of beverages. According to Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, “explosives and fuel for Russia’s war efforts” are produced here.
“They are military objects, although they are disguised as something else,” Kovalenko wrote, according to the Ukrainian news website Ukrainian News. Information from the Biochim website also suggests this. As reported by Reuters, the company presents itself as “producing ethyl alcohol and products of ‘strategic importance’ for the Russian state.”
Long-range drone strikes are a key part of both Ukrainian and Russian tactics. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian strike on a military facility in Toropets, Tver Oblast, probably resonated the most. A warehouse with Iskander, Točka-U missiles, guided aerial bombs or artillery ammunition was supposed to explode here.
The Russian ammunition warehouse in Toropec exploded massively after the attack by Ukrainian drones. | Video: Reuters