Ukraine hit two of Russia’s largest oil refineries overnight Tuesday, launching its deepest strike on Russian energy infrastructure just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down with Donald Trump in Washington.
The attacks struck a Lukoil refinery in Russia’s Perm region, more than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from Ukrainian territory, and a refinery in Ryazan, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) from the border. Combined, the two facilities have an annual production capacity of around 220 million barrels of oil, according to Ukrainian officials.
The overnight operation fits a pattern that has become Ukraine’s most effective pressure tactic. Using domestically developed long-range drones, Kyiv has been battering Russian oil facilities for months, bringing a fuel shortage that the Kremlin has struggled to explain away. On Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses shot down 295 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions and occupied Crimea.
Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov acknowledged fires at industrial sites caused by drone debris and said six people were taken to hospital. Online retailer Wildberries, a major Russian company, said it evacuated employees from a facility in Ryazan.
The timing was pointed. Zelenskyy had just returned from Washington, where he met Trump to push for continued American support. On social media, Zelenskyy wrote that Russia must feel that every day of this war will only come at a higher cost for it, and that Ukraine needs to weaken the aggressor and keep up the pressure to bring an end to this war closer.
Ukraine has been moving the war deeper into Russian territory for months. Its forces have struck arms depots, airfields, and naval targets far from the front lines, using a fleet of drones that grows more capable with each iteration. The campaign has embarrassed the Kremlin and disrupted supply lines.
In a separate operation, Ukrainian units struck 201 Russian vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov over the past three weeks, according to a senior military official. Ukraine’s General Staff also reported hitting a radar station in Russia’s Bryansk region, a drone launch site, and a road bridge in occupied Donetsk.
The refinery strikes are part of a strategy that Kyiv has made explicit: to make the war so costly for Russia’s economy that Moscow cannot sustain it.