Ukraine hits major oil terminal in Russia's St Petersburg
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- Ukraine struck a major oil terminal in St Petersburg overnight — one of Russia's largest, capable of producing 12.5 million tonnes of petroleum products per year — with Zelensky calling it "infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war"
- Ukraine's military also said it hit a key naval base of the Russian Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt; Russia has not publicly commented on the naval base claim
- St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov said 72 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the city and the wider Leningrad region, admitted the oil terminal was hit, but reported no casualties
- Kyiv claims nearly 43% of Russia's oil refining capacity has been "disabled" by recent Ukrainian drone attacks — a figure the BBC has not independently verified
- Putin last week made a rare admission that fuel shortages were caused by Ukrainian attacks, and on Saturday signed into law a bill aimed at boosting domestic fuel supplies
- Donald Trump received a congratulatory note from Putin for July 4th calling for "constructive relations" between their countries, as both sides jockey for position ahead of next week's NATO summit in Turkey
Why it matters: Ukraine hit targets 850km inside Russia while Kyiv claims 43% of Russian oil refining is disabled — forcing Putin to sign a domestic fuel supply law and reach out to Trump with a "constructive relations" July 4th note, days before NATO's Turkey summit. Military and diplomatic tracks are running in parallel.
