Zelenskyy says Ukraine hits a Russian oil refinery for the second time in a week
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Zelenskyy announced Ukraine struck Russia's Ufa oil refinery for the second time in a week — one of Russia's largest lubricant producers, located more than 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine — plus a missile-component plant in the Penza region roughly 500 km away.
- Russia's Defense Ministry reported intercepting 179 Ukrainian drones overnight across 16 Russian regions, Crimea, and the Black and Azov Seas; many Russian regions have introduced fuel rationing as Ukraine's drone campaign grinds on for months.
- Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine's strikes on supply routes behind the front line have stripped the Russian army of battlefield momentum, noting "Russians now have great problems with delivering infantry to the front line and supplying it."
- Sweden signed an agreement Tuesday to provide Ukraine with Gripen fighter jets; Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonsson told Kyiv that European countries want Ukraine "integrated into Euro-Atlantic defenses" and called it "a security provider for the whole of Europe."
- Zelenskyy arrived in Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, seeking "tangible progress" on Ukraine's EU membership bid and the opening of all negotiation clusters.
- Russian attacks killed three Ukrainian civilians Wednesday: a drone strike on a bus in Kherson killed two and injured six, and strikes on five gas stations in Dnipropetrovsk killed a 43-year-old woman and injured three, including a pregnant 35-year-old.
Why it matters: The Ufa strike — more than 1,000 km inside Russia — demonstrates Ukraine's expanding long-range drone reach against the energy infrastructure that funds Moscow's war effort, while the Swedish Gripen deal and Zelenskyy's Dublin push for EU accession clusters show Kyiv converting battlefield gains into concrete Western military and political integration as the war grinds into its fifth year.
Ask SkimNews
