This was not the day Vladimir Putin would have wanted. Russia Day, the national holiday marking the birthday of modern Russia, was marred on June 12 by an onslaught of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting key infrastructure. The Tolyattikauchuck petrochemical plant was hit overnight, while the Taneko oil refinery in Nizhekamsk, Tatarstan, was also struck. All mass celebration events were cancelled, and major airports were forced to impose restrictions.
Hours earlier, Ukraine confirmed a strike that destroyed 50 military cargo vehicles carrying fuel and ammunition on the Russian-occupied Armiansk bridge, a critical link connecting Crimea with mainland Russia. The Ukrainian military command said the attack was made possible in part by previous strikes against Mariupol and the road to Berdyansk. Moscow-installed Kherson head Vladimir Saldo confirmed the damage. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, said Crimea will be ‘isolated’ in the near future.
“Russia Day celebrations cancelled after Ukraine drone strikes hit oil refineries and cut key Crimea supply route.”
In another blow, Ukraine destroyed a £20m Russian Tor surface-to-air missile system in the Kursk region, further humiliating a president already facing the threat of losing access to occupied Crimea. The peninsula's lucrative tourism business is collapsing under widespread fuel and power shortages, with panic buying reported.
Since the early days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has methodically targeted Crimea’s supply lines. It sank several Russian warships in the Black Sea, crippling Moscow’s naval capability and forcing a fleet redeployment to Novorossiysk. The Kerch bridge, Putin’s prized asset and the only link between annexed Crimea and Russia, was struck by a truck bomb in October 2022, killing five and blowing up two sections. More attacks followed in 2023 and 2025. Now Kyiv is targeting Russia’s ability to sustain its forces on the peninsula, making military operations progressively untenable.
Despite the successes for Ukraine, satellite images show Russia is building a new military base near the Finnish border for the first time since the Soviet era. Work is underway on a dozen barracks 100 miles from the border with Finland, a Nato member. The move signals Moscow’s long-term military posture even as it scrambles to defend its most prized trophy: Crimea.