Ukraine Hits Two Russian Oil Refineries Deep in Russia
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- Ukraine struck two Russian oil refineries in coordinated long-range attacks: the Bashneft-Novoil facility in Bashkortostan, roughly 1,300 km from the border, and Slavneft-Yanos, about 700 km away, with Zelensky saying the strikes target oil revenues that "finance" Moscow's war.
- Yaroslavl governor Mikhail Evraev called the drone barrage "the largest enemy drone attack," reporting 93 drones intercepted, four people injured, and falling debris igniting storage tank fires at Slavneft-Yanos — fires BBC Verify confirmed in multiple geolocated videos and images.
- Ukraine also hit two Russian military patrol boats and "shadow fleet" tankers in the Black Sea that Zelensky said are used to illegally export sanctioned oil.
- Russia struck back overnight, killing at least 11 Ukrainians across separate attacks: three in Balakliya (Kharkiv region), two at a Lozova train station, five in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, and one in Odesa when two dry cargo ships were hit.
- Kherson lost all electricity after a critical infrastructure facility was struck; NetBlocks measured internet connectivity falling to about 31% overnight, with the city of roughly 66,000 people (a quarter of its pre-war population) now running partly on generators.
- Russia's military said it intercepted 605 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions and struck Ukrainian fuel, energy, transport, and drone-storage facilities, as both sides intensify attacks on infrastructure while the front line stays static and mediation efforts stall.
Why it matters: Ukraine hit a refinery 1,300 km from its border — nearly double the 700 km range of the second target struck in the same wave — directly threatening the oil revenues Zelensky explicitly cited as funding Russia's war effort. The reciprocal damage is concrete: 11 Ukrainian civilians killed, Kherson fully blacked out, and connectivity plunging to 31%, showing that escalation cuts both ways while the front line stays static and peace talks remain stalled.
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