"Today reports of our rocket program have appeared. There are crucial results. Long Neptune successfully passed the tests and was successfully utilized in combat. fresh Ukrainian missile, good hit. scope — a 1000 kilometres,” wrote the leader on his channel on Telegram. The president expressed his gratitude to Ukrainian programmers, producers and military, stressing that work on strengthening the defence capacity of the country is ongoing.
It may have been the Long Neptune that hit the oil refinery in Tuapse the day before. Krasnodar Region in Russia, writes the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN. In the published films from the alleged usage of the projectile, a distinctive sound of the weapon is heard. However, this information was not officially confirmed.
The oil refinery in Tuapse was attacked last night from Thursday to Friday. ‘It is one of the largest refineries in Russiawhich has the capacity to process about 12 million tons of oil per year. Refinery specializes in primary oil processing. It produces crude petrol, diesel and mazut, a large part of which is exported," said Andrij Kujechenko, Head of the Centre for Combating Disinformation at the National safety and Defence Council of Ukraine.
The object has strategic importance for the Russian army, due to the fact that it supplies fuel to the Black Sea Fleet and military infrastructure in the south of the country.
New opportunities for Ukraine
In December 2023, RBK-Ukraine reported that the country was developing new modification of the maneuvering missile for the complex Neptune — Long Neptune. Due to the secrecy of the details of the project, there was little. Defence Express portal wrote that the fresh rocket is equipped with guidance systemwhich uses thermal imaging. The function allows you to search and capture a mark based on preloaded data.
After Russia launched a full-scale invasion, Ukraine received British missiles from its allies Storm Shadow and American ATACMS. Their scope does not exceed 550 km, and attacks in Russia require Western approval. Ukrainian missiles can be utilized without restrictions.
Ukrainian forces besides actively utilized Neptune subsonic antiship missiles. They have a scope of up to 300 km, can scope speeds of up to 900 km per hour. It was with these missiles that the Ukrainian military destroyed in 2022 the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet — ‘Moscow’ rocket cruiser.
In the summertime of 2024 Volodymyr Zelenski said that Ukraine was actively developing long-range missiles and intends to launch their combat usage as shortly as possible. "Our rocket program has good dynamics. This is simply a hard task, but step by step we are approaching the anticipation of utilizing our own rockets alternatively than depending on transportation from partners," the Ukrainian president stressed.
