Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Ukraine kept up its large-scale drone attacks on Russia overnight, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying two Russian oil refineries were hit and President Vladimir Putin admitting for the first time that Russia was facing a “certain deficit” of fuel. The strikes came as Moscow said it would strengthen protection of oil sites, raise fuel output and import more fuel.
The attacks are part of Ukraine’s stepped-up long-range campaign against Russian military industries and energy facilities, aimed at cutting revenue for Moscow’s war effort. The latest strikes were followed by renewed claims and counterclaims from both sides, reports of civilian casualties in Ukraine and Russia, and fresh official moves in Russia to deal with fuel shortages.
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Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram: “Our long-range sanctions’ reached two oil refineries in Russia.” He added: “Each (strike) means a reduction in the resources that fuel the Russian war machine, and another step toward peace.”
Ukraine has sharply increased long-range attacks on Russian energy and military targets in recent months. According to the report, the campaign has disrupted Russian fuel supplies, led to shortages and long queues at petrol stations, and pushed authorities in many regions to introduce fuel rationing.
Speaking to Russian state television, Putin said the Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries were an attempt to “cause a split in Russian society and force Russia to halt, even if only briefly, the advance of our troops along the line of contact, and create conditions for launching a negotiation process on terms advantageous to our adversary”.
“We will not give them that chance,” Putin said, adding that “strikes on our infrastructure, wherever they are directed, have absolutely no effect on the situation at the front, on the line of contact”.
Putin also said for the first time that Ukraine had proposed a halt on deep strikes, arguing that Kyiv made the offer because Russian strikes deep inside Ukrainian territory were more powerful and destructive. He added that Ukraine had also offered to limit the fighting to the four regions that Russia annexed but does not fully control — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Putin rejected the proposal, saying it would allow Ukraine to move forces from other areas to defend against Russian attacks in the four south-eastern regions.
In southern Russia, debris from downed Ukrainian drones caused a fire at the refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani in the Krasnodar region, east of occupied Crimea, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. Local authorities said the falling debris killed one person in Slavyansk and injured another in a nearby village.
According to the operator’s website, the facility is one of the major refineries in southern Russia and processes nearly 4 million tonnes of crude a year. It is also an important source of petroleum products for export through Russia’s Black Sea ports, including fuel oil, naphtha and marine fuel.
Zelenskyy also said another Russian refinery in the Yaroslavl region, about 700 km from the Ukrainian border, was hit in the overnight strikes. There was no immediate confirmation from Russian authorities. Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Evraev said some roads between Moscow and Yaroslavl were temporarily closed because of “an enemy attack by Ukrainian drones”.
For months, Ukraine has been targeting energy facilities deep inside Russia. More recently, it has also tried to disrupt fuel deliveries to Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. Last weekend, Kremlin-installed officials in Crimea suspended petrol sales to civilians after attacks on supply routes triggered what the report described as the peninsula’s worst energy crisis since the annexation.
At a meeting with officials on the fuel situation, Putin said Russia was “going through a difficult period” but would “honor all its social obligations”. He later said the country’s arms industry would quickly raise production of air defence systems to counter Ukrainian attacks.
Putin also said Russia would import more fuel and speed up repair work at oil facilities to end what he called the “temporary deficit”. “All damaged facilities are being restored quite quickly, and the issues that arise are not critical,” he said. He also promised quick steps to deal with shortages in Crimea, saying fuel deliveries by land and sea would increase and expressing confidence that “this task will be accomplished”.
As shortages spread, Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev said drivers at state-run Rosneft petrol stations in the Siberian region would be allowed to buy no more than 50 litres of fuel per vehicle per day. Other filling stations may set lower limits. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia was actively reviewing fuel export agreements to avoid hurting domestic supply.
Elsewhere on Sunday, a Russian aerial bomb killed two people in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine and injured 16 others, including two children, according to regional administration head Ivan Fedorov. In Russia’s Belgorod border region, acting Governor Alexander Shuvayev said Ukrainian drone strikes killed one person and injured another earlier in the day.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 213 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russia, occupied Crimea and the Black and Azov seas. Ukraine’s air force said Russia attacked with 142 long-range drones and eight missiles, of which 125 drones and seven missiles were shot down.
The latest exchanges underlined the widening impact of the war as Ukraine pressed attacks on Russian oil and fuel infrastructure, Russia moved to contain shortages at home, and both sides reported fresh strikes, casualties and air defence action overnight.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
