Deep strike units of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) destroyed three Lukoil drilling rigs in the Caspian Sea during the evening of Jan. 11, according the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)
Apart from the three Lukoil drilling platforms in the Caspian Sea, a Russian Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system in the occupied Luhansk region, and a Russian army warehouse in the Kherson region were hit.
“As part of measures to reduce the aggressor’s military and economic potential, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck three Lukoil drilling rigs in the Caspian Sea, namely the V. Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin, and Valery Graifer rigs. These facilities are used to support the Russian occupation army,” the General Staff reported on its Facebook page.
The strikes have been confirmed and damage assessment is underway.
The Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system launcher destroyed in the vicinity of the village of Baranycheve in the occupied f Luhansk region. According to the General Staff, this medium-range air defense system is designed to combat aerodynamic targets.
Also, “in order to reduce the enemy’s logistical and combat capabilities,” the statement read, “a strike was carried out on a warehouse of the materiel and technical unit of the 49th Army of the occupiers in the area of the village of Novotroitsk (Kherson region).”
The General Staff stressed that the Defense Forces continue to systematically weaken the military-economic capabilities and offensive potential of Russian troops.
On Dec. 19, 2025 the Ukrainian Defense Forces successfully hit a Russian warship patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. A drilling platform belonging to Lukoil in the Filanovsky oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea was also hit.
The Filanovsky field is one of Russia’s largest discovered offshore deposits, with estimated reserves of 129 million tons of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of gas.
The US imposed sweeping sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft in late October. Days later, the Russian gas giant announced plans to sell its international assets due to “restrictive measures against the Company and its subsidiaries by some states.”
But on Dec. 4, 2025, US President Donald Trump’s Treasury extended a license allowing continued business with Lukoil-branded gas stations outside Russia on Thursday, despite US sanctions against Russia’s second-largest oil producer.