How Russia, Ukraine traded strikes overnight on oil, energy sites as Zelenskyy visited US – videos
Russia launched a massive overnight barrage of missiles and drones across Ukraine, striking oil, gas and industrial facilities and killing at least four people, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.The attack targeted a key oil and gas facility in Ukraine’s Poltava region with ballistic missiles, according to Reuters.Moscow also struck industrial sites in the southeastern cities of Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad, while an attack on an energy facility in the northern Chernihiv region cut power supplies to nearly 100,000 consumers.The latest exchange of aerial attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting the United States.Days ago, US President Donald Trump raised concerns that both sides should stop targeting each other’s fuel infrastructure.Russia has intensified its air campaign in recent months, hitting economic targets ranging from businesses and ports to logistics hubs, even as fighting along the front line has largely stalled more than four years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
Strikes hit Ukraine’s industrial heartland
Russian forces simultaneously targeted industrial enterprises in Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram.The region is a major industrial hub, home to machine-building, steel-making and other manufacturing industries.Russia used missiles, drones and artillery against four districts, killing four people and injuring six in Dnipro, Hanzha said. A business and warehouse premises were also badly damaged.Ukraine’s air force said the Russian barrage included an unspecified number of Oniks anti-ship and ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and 212 drones.Russia’s defence ministry said its forces struck industrial and military facilities in Ukraine, including targets in the fuel and energy sector, as well as port infrastructure and sea vessels serving the Ukrainian military.Businesses were also damaged in Pavlohrad and Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Zelenskyy, Hanzha said.In neighbouring Chernihiv region, a Russian strike on an energy facility disrupted electricity supplies to nearly 100,000 consumers, according to an electricity distributor.Poltava region was also hit in what governor Vitalii Diakivnych described as a “massive” attack. Russian forces struck an industrial enterprise and a critical infrastructure facility, though officials did not immediately provide further details.Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had struck an oil refinery in Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region.
Ukraine strikes back inside Russia
Ukraine has meanwhile stepped up its own drone campaign against targets deep inside Russia, including oil refineries and major online retailers.Ukrainian drones struck civilian targets in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga River, killing one person and injuring four, the local governor said. The region is home to strategically important industrial facilities, including oil refineries.Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 297 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight.
