Defense Express says the episode demolishes the old Russian notion of “beyond the Urals” as an inviolable rear.Published footage shows a Liutyi drone in flight and the impact on the refinery. Defense Express says two facts make this strike notable: Orsk lies roughly 1,500 km from the front line — effectively east of the Urals — and the weapon used appears to be the mass-produced Liutyi long-range drone, one of Kyiv’s widely deployed deep-strike types.The moment of impact of the ???????? Liutyi drone on the territory of the oil refinery in #Russia's Orsk, 1,400 km from the #Ukraine's border#UkraineRussiaWar️https://t.co/e9t1WsouKh pic.twitter.com/VuTmzoNvQV— Еспресо Global (@Espresotveng) October 3, 2025 While Ukraine has previously hit distant energy targets west of the Urals (for example, Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat and Bashneft facilities), Defense Express says the Orsk strike stands out because it reached territory that many in Russia considered safely behind the Urals. The video from Orsk, Defense Express says, reveals two characteristic features of the Liutyi used. First, the drone lacks landing gear — a design choice previously observed in successful strikes such as the hit on the Kupol plant in Izhevsk. Second, the drone’s fuselage appears blackened, consistent with an extended, night-time transit (the flight likely lasted many hours and crossed frontline airspace under cover of darkness). Defense Express says these traits point to deliberate design and operational choices for long-range penetration missions.Defense Express adds that the deeper a strike penetrates into Russian territory, the sparser and less effective air-defense coverage tends to become; this operational reality helps explain why raids reaching the Urals and beyond are increasingly possible.