Ukraine hits two oil refineries deep in Russian territory
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- Zelensky said Ukraine struck the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Russia's Bashkortostan republic, about 1,300km (808 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl, nearly 700km (435 miles) away, to limit oil revenues Moscow uses to finance the war.
- Yaroslavl regional governor Mikhail Evraev said Slavneft-Yanos was on fire after what he called the "largest enemy drone attack," with four injured and 93 drones shot down overnight; BBC Verify confirmed images showing at least four fires at the site.
- Ukraine also hit two Russian military patrol boats and shadow fleet vessels in the Black Sea—tankers Russia uses to illegally export sanctioned oil, according to Zelensky.
- Russian strikes killed at least 11 people across Ukraine: three in Balakliya in the Kharkiv region, two when drones hit a train station in Lozova, five in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, and one in the Black Sea port of Odesa when Russia struck two dry cargo ships.
- Kherson suffered a complete blackout after a "critical infrastructure facility" was hit overnight, according to regional head Oleksandr Prokudin.
- Russia's military said it intercepted 605 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions and had struck Ukrainian fuel, energy, and transport facilities as well as drone storage sites.
Why it matters: Ukraine is now sustaining drone barrages against targets more than 1,300km inside Russia while Russia retaliates against Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure—at least 11 killed and Kherson fully blacked out in a single day—showing both sides are systematically degrading each other's energy bases as the front line remains static and diplomacy stalls.
