FT: US and France gave Ukraine intelligence to bypass Russian air defenses in strikes on oil refineries

The Financial Times reports that intelligence from the United States and France has enabled Ukraine to identify where Russia deploys its air defenses, allowing drone strikes on oil refineries to successfully navigate past them. Rather than aiming simply to destroy these facilities, Ukrainian military commanders have shifted tactics — they now seek to keep refineries offline as long as possible by striking critical infrastructure components and repeatedly hitting the same equipment before repairs can be completed. Before launching each mission, engineers and industry specialists brief drone operators on which systems are essential to keeping operations running.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton