What the 40-day campaign meant for 27 June 2026
A look back at a day of strikes on a Russian oil facility, aircraft losses and emergency measures in occupied Crimea.
What did Ukraine's announced 40-day campaign look like in practice on 27 June 2026? That day offered an early answer, with Ukraine's Security Service announcing a strike on the Vtorovo oil pumping station in Russia's Vladimir Oblast. The Security Service described the strike as part of the campaign ordered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to compel Russia to end the war.
The campaign had been set out a day earlier. On 26 June 2026, Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Russia since the start of the war, with more than 660 drones sent against several regions, Moscow Oblast among them. Zelenskyy said he had approved the 40-day campaign.
Also on 26 June, a state of emergency was declared in Russian-occupied Crimea in response to a growing number of Ukrainian airstrikes. Crimea had been occupied by Russia since 2014.
The same day brought a humanitarian exchange: Russia and Ukraine each released 160 prisoners of war.
On 27 June, Ukraine also lost aircraft. A Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 was destroyed on the ground by a Russian Geran kamikaze drone at an airbase in southern Ukraine. Another MiG-29 was lost during a combat mission over Poltava Oblast, and its pilot ejected and reached safety.
Taken together, the reports from 26 and 27 June show a war in which long-range strikes on Russian territory expanded while Ukrainian forces also took losses in the air.
