Ukraine hit more oil facilities deep inside Russia in nighttime attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, as Kyiv kept up its campaign to undermine Moscow’s wartime economy and embarrass the Kremlin.
The repeated strikes have caused fuel shortages and rattled Russians while heartening Ukrainians who are enduring regular Russian barrages that Kyiv’s weakened air defences are struggling to counter.
Ukrainian forces hit a refinery in Bashkortostan, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) behind the front line in eastern Ukraine, as well as a refinery in the Yaroslavl region, almost 700 kilometres (400 miles) from the Ukrainian border, Zelenskyy said on social media.
Also, Ukrainian forces hit two Russian military patrol boats in the Black Sea, according to Zelenskyy, as well as vessels belonging to Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet, which Russia uses to evade Western restrictions on its oil exports. He did not provide details about the vessels or the extent of the damage.
The Russian Defence Ministry said Thursday that its air defences overnight shot down 605 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas.
Meanwhile, Russian drone and glide bomb attacks across Ukraine during the night killed at least three civilians and wounded 22 others, authorities said Thursday, as countries helping Kyiv resist Russia’s invasion scrambled to find more vital air defenses for its fight.
Moscow’s forces have in recent weeks pummeled Ukraine with ballistic missiles that Kyiv officials say only the US-made Patriot air defence system can stop. But the Ian war has drained stocks of Patriot interceptor missiles, leaving Ukraine at the mercy of Russian bombardments that seek to exploit its weakened aerial defenses.
“We are working as hard as possible with all partners who can assist with the supply of interceptor missiles to protect against such insane Russian strikes targeting life, people, and civilian facilities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media late Wednesday after a Russian barrage killed 17 people in the Kyiv region.
He said he had spoken to NATO chief Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb about urgently procuring interceptors from stockpiles.
Zelenskyy said he and Rutte “coordinated our efforts regarding countries that have the necessary missiles and the capacity to help.”
