Ukraine's drone commander has Russian oil, troops and morale in his sights

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In a rare interview, Commander Robert Brovdi shared how his unit accounts for a third of all targets destroyed on the battlefield.

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Ukraine has been intensifying its deep strikes like this for several weeks, targeting oil export facilities, in particular, like never before.

Now, in a rare interview, the commander of all Ukraine's unmanned systems has told the BBC such attacks will escalate and claimed his drone forces are also holding back Russia's advance along the frontline by killing a record number of soldiers.

"1,500 to 2,000km (930-1,240 miles) inside Russian territory is no longer the 'peaceful rear'," Robert Brovdi warns. "The freedom-loving Ukrainian 'bird' flies there whenever and wherever it wants."

At the secret launch site, a drizzly field in eastern Ukraine, the long-range drones are primed and we're ordered back to a safe distance. The team work quickly before Russian forces can detect them and send ballistic missiles hurtling towards us. There's a shouted command, loud revs of an engine and a flash of white as the first device tears into the sky towards Russia like a mini jet plane.

President Volodymyr Zelensky calls such deep strikes "very painful" to Moscow, causing "critical" losses running to tens of billions of dollars in its energy sector despite the recent surge in global oil prices.

The increase in such attacks is partly down to technology. Locally produced drones are becoming cheaper and flying further: the model we see launch can now travel more than 1,000km and others already go twice as far.

But it's also about focus. In addition to military personnel and production, Russia's energy exports have been identified as a priority target.

"Putin extracts natural resources and converts them into blood dollars that they then direct against us in the form of Shahed drones and ballistic mis

Source: BBC