Ukraine hits Russian oil refinery for second time in a week
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- Ukraine struck Russia's Ufa oil refinery for the second time in a week, with Zelensky noting the facility is one of Russia's largest lubricant producers and sits more than 1,000 km from Ukraine.
- Russian fuel rationing has spread to many regions, with pump prices now past 100 rubles in some areas, according to the article.
- Ukraine also struck a missile-components plant in Russia's Penza region roughly 500 km from the border, while Russia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted 179 Ukrainian drones over 16 regions, Crimea, and waters of the Azov and Black seas.
- Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonsson confirmed Sweden signed an agreement Tuesday to provide Kyiv with Gripen fighter jets to counter Russian glide-bomb aircraft, and said European countries want Ukraine integrated into Euro-Atlantic defenses at next week's NATO summit in Turkey.
- Canada signed an agreement for co-production of drones with Ukraine, and Zelensky arrived in Ireland — current holder of the EU's rotating presidency — to push for progress on membership negotiations.
- Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia now has "great problems" delivering infantry and supplies to the front line because of strikes on supply routes.
- Russian strikes killed at least five Ukrainian civilians Wednesday, including a 15-year-old boy hit by glide bombs in Kharkiv and two people killed when a drone struck a bus in the Kherson region.
Why it matters: Ukraine's refinery campaign has produced visible economic pain inside Russia — pump prices past 100 rubles and rationing across many regions — while simultaneously accelerating Kyiv's transformation from aid recipient to arms exporter, with Sweden supplying Gripen jets and Canada co-producing drones, a shift that recasts Ukraine as a defense industrial partner for Europe rather than a supplicant.
