Ukraine says drones hit two Russian refineries as Moscow reports casualties

KYIV: Ukraine carried out overnight drone strikes on two Russian oil refineries in the Krasnodar and Yaroslavl regions, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, as Kyiv stepped up its campaign against Russia’s fuel infrastructure.

Zelensky said the targeted facilities were about 300 kilometres and 700 kilometres from Ukrainian territory. In a message on social media, he said the operations were intended to reduce Russia’s capacity to continue the war.

"We continue our operations that weaken Russia’s ability to wage this war," he wrote.

One of the strikes hit the privately owned Slavyansk oil refinery, which has a processing capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratiev said the attack caused a large fire. He also said one person was killed and another was injured in a nearby village.

In the Yaroslavl region, east of Moscow, local authorities imposed temporary transit restrictions on some road routes leading to the Russian capital after the aerial attack.

Pressure on Russia’s fuel network

Ukraine has increased the frequency of drone attacks on Russian logistics and energy targets in recent months. The strikes have contributed to fuel shortages in parts of Russia, with queues and rationing reported at petrol stations.

A separate large-scale attack last week caused a major fire at a refinery southeast of Moscow. The broader campaign has also led to power outages and fuel rationing in parts of southern Russia and in Russian-annexed Crimea, which recently declared an emergency situation to deal with the impact.

Kyiv says the strikes are retaliation for Russia’s near-daily attacks on Ukrainian civilians and energy facilities since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Putin says Russia faces a difficult period

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the country was passing through what he described as a difficult period, according to state news agency TASS. He made the remarks at a conference of the ruling United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections due in September.

While describing the attacks as terrorist attacks and acknowledging vulnerabilities in infrastructure, Putin said Russia would respond to the challenge.

"We will certainly ensure the security of both the country and our citizens, as well as the inviolability of Russia’s borders," he said.

Fighting continues on both sides

On the battlefield, the Ukrainian military said a ballistic missile attack was under way in Kyiv early on Sunday. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that air defence units were active in the capital and urged residents to stay in shelters.

AFP journalists reported hearing explosions and seeing flashes in the sky over Kyiv. A day earlier, Russian strikes in the central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and the northern Sumy region killed two people.

Russia’s Defence Ministry also said on Sunday that its forces had advanced territorially. TASS reported that Russian troops had taken two more villages in the southeast: Pysantsi in the Dnipropetrovsk region and Novoselivka in the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region.

The developments came after Ukraine also launched attacks on Volgograd and Belgorod in southwestern Russia, and on Horlivka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which is under Moscow’s control. Regional authorities said three people were killed in those attacks.