Kyiv is following through on its promise of an intensified 40-day, long-range strike campaign against Russia, announcing on Tuesday, June 30, that a Moscow satellite communications center was struck overnight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strikes in a statement and on social media, accompanied by video footage of the attacks. Moscow also announced that hundreds of drones were shot down over its territory overnight.
Zelenskyy confirmed that the “Dubna” space communications center, Russia’s largest ground-based satellite communications complex, had been hit for the second time.
Shahed Drone from Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
What Zelenskyy Said
In his statement, Zelenskyy once again praised his campaign of “long-range sanctions” against Russia, announcing strikes more than 500 kilometers from the border.
“Today, our long-range sanctions against Russia for this war once again reached the Dubna space communications center in the Moscow region. This is a special satellite communications facility used, in particular, for reconnaissance and for coordinating the activity of Russia’s occupation contingent in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
“The distance from our state border to this facility is more than 500 kilometers. Recently, our Defense Forces of Ukraine already reached four such Russian centers, not only in the Moscow region but also in the Vladimir region. Step by step, we are implementing our plan of long-range sanctions and making it as difficult as possible for the aggressor state to carry out its invasion operations against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories. Relevant actions are also being prepared against other similar enemy facilities,” the statement continues.
Russia Confirms Strikes
In its daily update, the Russian Ministry of Defense also confirmed the strikes. In a statement published on Telegram, Moscow confirmed that its air defense systems had intercepted as many as 419 Ukrainian drones since late Monday night. The drones were also intercepted across at least 16 Russian regions, including Moscow and Crimea.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin also said on Tuesday morning that at least 60 of the drones shot down were over the Moscow region. Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, also confirmed that a drone had struck an “administrative building,” and that a six-month-old baby had died following a drone crash at a residential property in Yegoryevsk.
Why It Matters
The Dubna space communications center is a strategic target for Ukraine. It is a control and relay node between satellites in orbit and ground systems, serving both civilian and military purposes.
The system sends instructions to satellites and receives the data they collect back. From a military perspective, a second strike at the facility is bad news because it helps transmit and process intelligence obtained by satellites. That data is then fed into Russian military command structures and directly supports operational planning and coordination in the Ukraine war.
For Kyiv, it’s a second victory. A previous wave of Ukrainian long-range drone attacks already reached the Dubna facility earlier this month. An overnight strike on June 21-22 saw long-range drones and missiles strike several military facilities deep inside Russia.
On June 22, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that it had struck the Dubna satellite communications facility, while Russia’s TASS news agency confirmed that the facility “had come under a massive drone attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” Satellite imagery from the days after the strike appeared to show damage throughout the complex, although Russia did not officially acknowledge that the strike had damaged structures within the facility or disclose the extent of the disruption to operations.
Zelenskyy’s Long-Range Sanctions Continue
The strike is part of Zelenskyy’s newly announced 40-day “long-range sanctions” campaign, which is designed to raise the cost of continuing the occupation of Ukraine. Using drones and domestically produced long-range missiles like the FP-5 Flamingo, Kyiv is working to cause as much damage as possible to Russia’s energy infrastructure. By targeting its most critical oil refinery and energy sites, Kyiv is successfully cutting off the lifeblood of Russia’s wartime economy, bringing the effects of war to the regular citizens of Russia while also causing disruption to its military operations.
Russia’s Oil Industry Under Threat
Since the campaign began, Ukraine has expanded its operations well beyond oil refineries and fuel depots and continues to target a broad range of military infrastructure. On June 28, for example, Zelenskyy confirmed successful strikes on the Sloviansk oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai and another refinery in the Yaroslavl region. Before that, a devastating strike on the Moscow Oil Refinery and Vtorovo oil pumping station sent shockwaves across the country, as video footage of the enormous blasts they caused went viral on social media.
The campaign is already having the effects Kyiv wants to see, with long fuel lines and gasoline shortages reported across the country – including as far away as Siberia. Moscow has implemented a series of measures to mitigate the crisis, but with more strikes on the way, the problem is likely only to worsen in the coming weeks.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, producing and editing analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
