Ukraine hits more oil facilities inside Russia

KYIV, August 7 ------ Ukraine struck more oil facilities deep inside Russia overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, 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 defenses are struggling to counter. The repeated strikes have caused fuel shortages and rattled Russians while heartening Ukrainians who are enduring regular Russian barrages that Kyiv’s weakened air defenses are struggling to counter.

Ukrainian forces hit a refinery in Bashkortostan, more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) behind the front line in eastern Ukraine, as well as a refinery in the Yaroslavl region, almost 700 km (400 mi) from the Ukrainian border, Zelensky said on social media. Ukrainian forces also hit two Russian military patrol boats in the Black Sea, he added, as well as vessels belonging to Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet, which Russia uses to evade Western restrictions on its oil exports.

Zelensky did not provide details about the vessels or the extent of the damage. Russia’s defense ministry said on Thursday its air defenses 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 on 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 United States-made Patriot air defense system can stop. But the war on Iran 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,” Zelensky said on social media on Wednesday night after a Russian barrage killed 17 people in the Kyiv region. He said he had spoken to North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb about procuring interceptors from stockpiles.

Zelensky also said he and Rutte “coordinated our efforts regarding countries that have the necessary missiles and the capacity to help.” “It is important to cut through all red tape and make the necessary political decisions,” he added. “I am discussing with allies how we can continue to get Ukraine the air defenses they urgently need,” Rutte said on X.

Source: manilatimes.net