Ukrainian drone travels 2,500 km in 12 hours to attack oil refinery in Siberia, as CIA confirms 30-minute soldier lifespan

CIA Director John Ratcliffe has said that Ukraine's AI drones have significantly decreased the lifespan of Russian soldiers, who only live an average of 20 to 30 minutes on the battlefield. The assertion was previously made by Russian military bloggers who were quoted in an op-ed by historian Peter Frankopan. Meanwhile, a drone flew for 12 hours and covered a distance of 2,500 kilometres to hit an oil refinery in Siberia.

"Our intelligence is consistent with some of the open-source reporting you may have seen in Ukraine: the average life expectancy of a Russian recruit right now, arriving on the battlefield in Ukraine, is estimated to be between 20 and 30 minutes," Ratcliffe said at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit on Wednesday.

He added that the AI-powered drones have become "specialised, low-cost killing machines".

Russia has a larger pool of manpower, but Kyiv's innovation with various attack drones has severely limited Moscow's military impact.

Also Read: Russian soldiers could die within 20 minutes of being put on Ukraine frontline, report finds

Ukraine drone hits Russia 2,500km deep after flying for 12 hours

It displayed this power once again on July 6, when its FP-1 drones struck the Gazprom Neft oil refinery in Omsk, Siberia. The drones flew for roughly 2,500 km over more than 12 hours to carry out the strikes, which halted operations at Russia's largest gasoline producer, The Telegraph reported. It was the longest-range Ukrainian drone strike of the war.

The drone is made of a plywood load-bearing structure, with foam wings and a two-cylinder piston engine, and costs an estimated $55,000 per unit. The drone managed to inflict severe damage and set fire to the CDU-10 crude distillation unit. It handles 24,580 metric tons of crude per day. A second unit, CDU-11, responsible for 37% of production, was shut down after network links crucial for its operation were damaged.

Russian oil refinery attacked

In June, Ukraine carried out a huge attack on Moscow's largest oil refinery, leaving it so crippled that it is not expected to resume operations until next year. Russia's oil refining capacity has come down by around 700,000 barrels per day, reports suggest.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is facing flak for continuing the war death toll in the country mounts. More than 30,000 soldiers reportedly either die or are injured every month, and the total casualties are estimated to stand at one million.