Global Conflict Reporting

Category: Ukraine

  • Russian Baltic Sea Fleet Ship Struck Near St. Petersburg.

    Russian Baltic Sea Fleet Ship Struck Near St. Petersburg.

    Satellite images and video shows the damage after yesterday mornings’ attack on the Russian warship Boikiy, a Project 20380/Steregushchiy-class Corvette in the Baltic Sea Fleet. The ship was attacked during a large Ukrainian drone wave that struck St. Petersburg and the Kronstadt naval base that’s nearby. The ship was struck twice in videos released by Ukraine. Video released later on shows fire crews battling a large fire near the center of the ship.

    Link to GCR video showing attack on Boikiy.

    https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17kiH9TZpN

    The ship was in drydock at the Kronstadt naval base near St. Petersburg. It has been there since February of this year receiving routine maintenance and repairs.

    This ship is thought of by maritime experts as one of Russia’s most modern warships. it serves as a multipurpose corvette mainly designed for littoral zone operations, engagement of enemy submarines and surface ships, and gun support of landing operations.

    The ship carries a crew of 100 and displaces around 2,200 pounds. Its size has given it the classification of a “Frigate” in western navies as it’s a little bit bigger than what is generally considered to be a corvette.

    While its size is on the small side its armament is anything but. It has a weight provision eight SS-N-25 missiles (KH-35) (NATO reporting name AS-20 ‘Kayak’) a Turbo-jet subsonic, anti-ship missile. After the first ship in the Steregushchiy was built the CIWS system was removed and replaced with x12 Redut VLS Cells loaded with 9M96E2 missiles (Used in the S-400 anti air system).

    Global Conflict Reporting is a completely independent project run by one person, If you would like to support my work you can sign up for a membership on the Patreon (Link below), or one time/reoccurring donations through the website.

  • Russia Hits Kyiv with One of the Largest Attacks of the War – Oreshnik IRBM Used

    Russia Hits Kyiv with One of the Largest Attacks of the War – Oreshnik IRBM Used

    Overnight on May 23-24 2026, at least four people were killed and 100 wounded in one of the largest Russian air attacks in years. While strikes were launched across multiple regions, the main target was clear: the capital, Kyiv.

    Video shows moments from the Russian attack on Kyiv.

    The city was hit with multiple Kh-101/Kalibr cruise missiles, Shahed drones, and ballistic missiles. After 1 a.m., explosions rang out across Kyiv following a warning from the United States and Europe that Russia might launch one of its hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missiles. This was not only one of the largest recent attacks — it ranks among the largest of the entire war with 90 missiles (including 36 ballistic) and an estimated 600 drones being used in the attack.

    Russian Tupolev TU-95 (NATO: Bear) carrying KH-101 (NATO: AS-23 “Kodiak”) Cruise missile.
    Video of the Oreshnik strike.

    Videos from Bila Tserkva, a city roughly 40 miles (64 km) from Kyiv’s outskirts, captured the Oreshnik strike. It is not yet known what, if anything, was damaged or why that area was targeted in specific. Although the attack looked dramatic, the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) was designed primarily as a nuclear delivery system. It is very similar to Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh (NATO: SS-X-31), which was test-fired a handful of times but never fully fielded. Both missiles are equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs). These break apart into six individual submunitions during the exo-atmospheric flight phase, allowing them to strike separate targets — a capability ideal for delivering multiple nuclear warheads.

    Some information of the Russian Oreshnik missile.

    In its non-nuclear form – which lacks any conventional warhead and relies solely on kinetic energy – the Oreshnik has so far proved to be more of a threat than a practical battlefield weapon. Nuclear weapons experts have described its accuracy as “good enough to deliver a nuclear weapon, but not enough to deliver conventional weapons effectively.” Last night marked the third known use of the Oreshnik. It was deployed on November 20 2024 to hit Ukraines PA Pivdenmash facility in Dinipro, and again earlier this year on January 6 to hit the city of Lviv.

    The hours-long attack sent Kyiv residents huddling in subway tunnels and other designated bomb shelters as Russia appeared to fire missiles at random. Russian Telegram channels shared a photo of a damaged apartment block and claimed it was the headquarters for the entire Ukrainian Army. One area hit particularly hard was the Lukyanivka district, north of Kyiv’s city center. That district is home to a missile production plant that has been targeted multiple times during the war. Apart from those specifics residential buildings, a market that burned down several schools, and a water supply facility along with damage reported in dozens of other locations across multiple districts.

    “It’s important that this does not remain without consequences for Russia…“Decisions are needed – from the United States, from Europe and others.”

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app, urging international action.

    Ukraine’s Western allies have described the use of an IRBM as an escalation. Germany and the UK condemned the attack, while Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, accused Moscow of “a political scare tactic and reckless nuclear brinkmanship.”

    Russia described the attack as retaliation for an attack they claim targeted student dormitories, among other recent Ukranian drone strikes. Ukraine says that they only strike “military and military supporting infrastructure.”

  • Russian Oil Terminals Struck n the Coast of the Baltic. 

    Russian Oil Terminals Struck n the Coast of the Baltic. 

    On March 22nd going into the 23rd Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on the Primorsk Oil Port in the Leningrad region, in the coast of the Gulf of Finland. 

    Image taken March 21st 2026 of the Primorsk Oil Port shows the terminal before the strike.
    Satellite image released by Soar and taken March 24th, 2026 shows the result of the attack with multiple destroyed and damaged oil storage tanks.

    Ukrainian forces launched a long-range coordinated attack using multiple Kamikaze drones which traveled through hundreds of miles of Russian air defense and struck the facility, damaging multiple fuel storage tanks in the compound. Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko publicly confirmed fires in “several fuel reservoirs” and said emergency crews had been fighting the blaze while workers were evacuated. 

    The fires were still burning 48 hours after.

    An image taken after the attack on Ust-Luga.

    On the next night night a similar attack was carried out directly across the Gulf of Finland on the Ust-Luga terminal, along with many other oil production facilities in that general area in what Ukraine is calling the single largest night of drone attacks in the war. 

    No satellite images have been released yet but we’ve plotted out both locations on Google Earth to show the proximity of the terminals to each other.

    As of this month the attacks in Russia’s oil industry has caused a drop in exports by 40%. Ukraine is attempting to disrupt any Russian infrastructure that finances the ongoing war. Both sites halted production on Wednesday.

    Around the time the Ust-Luga site was hit, one Ukrainian drone landed in Latvia and one crashed at an Estonian power station without causing damage.

    A source that spoke to Reuters told them that the reserves had been lit on fire and that Ust-Luga had been sealed off.

    The attack damaged oil loading stands as well as the tanks. The tanks are a fairly easy thing to replace but the equipment to transfer the oil to the ships is more expensive and harder to get making these strikes more devastating than just hitting the oil.

  • Satellite images reveal the aftermath of Ukranian drone attack on Russian port.

    Still frim the video shows the attack on the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

    By. Scott Jackson

    12/18/2025

    Satellite images from December 16th show the aftermath of the Ukrainian drone attack on the port at Novorossiysk. 

    On the 15th, Ukrainian forces launched an attack on the port of Novorossiysk. The attack was carried out by elements of the 13th Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of the SBU and the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The attack was carried out using a type of unscrewed submersible and appears to have been filmed from somewhere nearby. The video doesn’t show as much as you hope when looking at footage like this and that has led to some debate over the effectiveness of the strike.

    The before and after image show a clear spot of damage to the pier where the explosion happened and it looks like most of the damage is focused away from the submarine. 

    Before the attack.
    After.

    Russia also put out a video showing what they claim to be the sub in the aftermath, however they don’t show any area that would have received more than minimal blast damage. 

    Twitter post with the Russian video showing the aftermath of the attack.

    Analysis

    It’s unclear from any of the photos or videos how much damage was sustained by the Kilo. After speaking with several submariner’s I’ve come to the conclusion that this attack failed at its intended goal. This subs depth rating is somewhere around 300 meters (984ft). At those depths and even half of those depth you have pressure put on the sub to keep it from imploding in on itself. Meaning sub hulls are built to withstand an immense amount of pressure. This explosion, with it not actually detonating on impact with the sub, preferably with some sort of shaped charge to punch through the hull, left the Kilo mostly undamaged. If the sub received any damage at all it’s going to be mostly superficial and able to be quickly repaired.

    One effect this strike had was the closing off of the port in Novorossiysk with barges in an effect to stop Ukraine from attempting the same trick twice. Now that the sub sea drone is operational, I expect more attacks on Russian sub- and surface vessels in the future.

    Novorossiysk port opening closed off with barges.

  • Russian shadow fleet ships attacked in the Black Sea.

    By. Scott Jackson

    11.29.2025

    Today Ukraine announced that its military had launched attacks on two sanctioned Russian Oil tankers operating in the Black Sea. 

    The ships, identified as the Gambian-flagged Kairos and Virat were empty at the time of the attacks and it is reported they were heading to the Russian city of Novorossiysk, a major port and oil hub for Russia especially in the Black Sea region. 

    Tanker Virat after the attack. Mostly minor damage on this ship.

    During an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu,the transport and infrastructure minister for Turkey, said the attacks took place within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

    The Russia shadow fleet oil tanker Virat stopped near Turkey after it was attacked by Ukranian sea drones.

    This attack is being reported by Ukraine as a joint operation between the SBU’s 13th Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence with the Ukrainian Navy. The operation was carried out with Ukrainian “Sea Baby” drones which can travel long distances.

    Video of the events were relesed across social media.

    Russia’s shadow fleet

    Both ships attacked have been under sanctions by the UK and European Union. However these two ships and the many more like them continue to find Russia’s nearly four year long war. They continue to haul Russias crude oil and funnel money to Moscow, fueling Russias economy.

    “The Russian shadow fleet has become almost a tumour on global shipping,” said Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative.

    “The shadow fleet has grown exponentially, and Western governments have tried sanctioning specific vessels … but every time that happens, another vessel enters the shadow fleet.”

    These Russian shadow ships often carry “flags of convenience” often being flagged in places with little knowledge or experience in maritime affairs, places like the Gambia and Cook Islands.

    Ships that’s are sanctioned have no access to western ports and personnel. They are barred from trading from many nations however are still able to find buyers in China and even in Europe. Some European nations still buy Russian gas and oil either directly or through a third party.

    The Russian shadow fleet is made up of as many as a reported 1500 ship as of 2024 highlighting the ineffectiveness of the western sanctions to slow the flow of Russian oil. This is one reason why Ukraine has taken such an interest in targeting Russian oil production choosing instead to attempt to stop it at its source.

  • Ukraine makes big decisions regarding the future of its air power. 

    AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom

    By.Scott Jackson

    10.22.2025

    Two big announcements have come in the past three days signaling that Ukraine is looking to make changes to its military air power. Currently Ukraine’s military uses a mixture of old Soviet equipment plus whatever platforms have been bought or donated to them by their partners in Europe and America. 

    This weekend it was announced that Bell Textron, the American Aerospace company responsible for the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom helicopters, have signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ in Washington with the government in Ukraine. Essentially this starts the ball rolling on future aircraft deliveries, after the framework and support for the systems have been built in Ukraine. The statement released by the company and government of Ukraine mentions that these helicopters are likely to be built in Ukraine, bolstering Ukraine’s defense industry and going a far step to modernize Ukraine’s helicopter fleet.

    Ukraine’s helicopter fleet is currently made up of mostly old Soviet systems. The Mil Mi-24 (Hind) gunship has been a workhorse in the current war and while effective for what it does, It’s an older platform with limitations. This deal will give Ukraine a fleet of modernized helicopters with a proven track record of combat capabilities. A huge benefit is that the Venom and Viper share 84% commonality meaning training pilots and support crew is much quicker. 

    While this deal isn’t finalized it does signal that the process is in the works and should go through as long as the U.S. government agrees to it. If the deal goes through it’s likely a number of aircraft will be transferred to Ukraine so they can start training pilots and the support crew on their operations. 

    The AH-1Z Viper attack chopper is a twin engine attack helicopter with a speed of 300KTS and a range of 310 nautical miles. The platform provides an excellent ground attack platform, carrying a main gun as well as air-to-ground missiles with the option of carrying sidewinders for engaging air targets. These helicopters are also survivable in the worst cases with self sealing fuel cells and armored crash resistant seats for the crew. 

    The Venom on the other hand is a jack-of-all-trades workhorse. There is a reason it’s sometimes called the Super Huey as the spirit of the Huey from the Vietnam days lives on in the Venom. It’s mostly used for carrying supplies or troops but it can also be equipped with rockets and door guns in case you just really need the extra firepower or a AN/ALQ-231(V)3 Intrepid Tiger II sensor pod for precision electronic attack capabilities (maybe in support of a squad of Vipers, for example.) Its speed is similar to that of a viper however its unladen range is a bit further. With a 2000lb payload its range is 150NM.

    Ukraine’s helicopter fleet isn’t the only upgrade Ukraine is looking to. Just today Ukraine President Zelenskyy met with the Swedish government and signed another letter of intent, for the purchase of as many as 150 of the Swedish made Saab Jas-39 Gripen E fighter jets. 

    The Gripen is a single engine, supersonic, multi-role fighter jet. A highly maneuverable fighter, the Gripen is designed for what’s known as JAS in the Swedish language, Jakt (Air-to-air), attack (air-to-surface) and Spaning (Reconnaissance). The E version of this fighter is built with some higher end capabilities including electronic warfare, a more powerful engine, and increased weapons capacity.

  • First look at the Ukrainian produced ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile.

    By. Scott Jackson

    08/25/2025

    On August 17th, Ukraine’s Yefrem Lukatsky a well known AP photojournalist released images showing the production of Ukraines previously unannounced, ground- launched, long ranged cruise missile, the FP-5 ‘Flamingo’. This Ukrainian produced cruise missile could become a strong contender for Ukraine’s most effective long range weapon systems.

    The Flamingo is designed and built by Ukrainian defense company Fire Point. According to, the missile has a six meter wingspan and a takeoff weight of 13,000 lbs on takeoff. The payload capacity is 1,150 lbs. Its publicly started range is 1865 miles.

    A look at the tail of the missile showing the engine on top of the weapon, much like designs from the 50s-60s

    “We came up with it pretty fast. It took less than nine months to develop it from an idea to its first successful tests on the battlefield. I will not tell you about its exact speed, but I can say it’s faster than all the other missiles we currently have,” said Iryna Terekh the company’s CEO while adding adding: “It is completely Ukrainian-made.

    The missile is already casing a stir in Russia, the state run agency TASS put out an article last week downplaying the threat posed by this missile. The article also tried to undercut the Ukrainian achievement by saying the missile was from a British design, which the Ukrainian company Fire Point denies. However the impact of the missile is already being felt on the battlefield.

    “We watched Russian reaction to our first missions and I can tell you the more successful the mission was, the more Russians tried to choke all publicity around it,”Terekh said.

    The missile is already in production making several units a day. The company claims they can make that 200 a day by the end of the year.

    With the number Ukraine’s Fire point company is planning to make along with the range this weapons could vastly shift the course of this war, putting a good percentage of Russia industries, both defense and civilian into range of Ukraines new missiles.