Ukraine war briefing: Drones strike Russia oil refinery in Siberia as Zelenskyy warns region now ‘within reach’
Ukrainian president says long-range attack an ‘important achievement’ while also pleading for better air defences. What we know on day 1,595Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s Omsk oil refinery – the country’s largest, located deep in Siberia – in what would be one of Ukraine’s longest-range attacks of the war, Kyiv’s military said. Local Russian authorities confirmed the strike, which came on the eve of a crucial Nato summit. The strike caused a fire at the Omsk refinery, about 2,700km from Ukrainian-held territory and close to Russia’s border with Kazakhstan, the Ukrainian military’s general staff said. The Omsk region’s governor, Vitaly Khotsenko, said Ukraine had attacked the refinery and that Russian air defences had destroyed most of the drones involved in the strike. There were no casualties and emergency services were working at the scene, he said.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as an “important achievement” for Ukraine’s armed forces, adding in his nightly video address: “Siberia, too, is now within reach of Ukrainian precision strikes.” The Ukrainian defence technology company Fire Point said its upgraded FP-1 drones carried out the attack and described it as a record for strike drones “not only in Ukraine, but worldwide. Prior to this, the Omsk oil refinery had remained out of reach for Ukrainian drones.” Ukraine’s military also hit Russia’s Ust-Luga and Vysotsk ports, which handle oil exports on the Baltic Sea, as well as targets in the Kaluga and Yaroslavl regions, local governors said.Russia fired missiles and drones into apartment buildings in Kyiv for the second time in a week on Monday, killing at least 21 people and exposing the city’s critical shortage of US-made interceptors, Ukrainian authorities said, just days after a huge attack on the Ukrainian capital killed at least 27. Rescuers were digging bodies from the rubble of a Kyiv high-rise ripped open in the latest bombardment. The attack came on the eve of a Nato summit in Turkey where Donald Trump is due to hold talks with Zelenskyy in a renewed push for peace. The US president said on Monday that a resolution to the war in Ukraine was “getting closer than people realise”.Zelenskyy pleaded for Nato to boost Ukraine’s air defence against Russia’s ballistic missiles, saying in the aftermath of the strikes: “It is simply absurd that in the modern world, production has still not been organised to the extent that is necessary to protect people from ballistic terror.” He also said Kyiv expected “decisions” on Ukrainian air defence at the Ankara summit. Earlier, Nato chief Mark Rutte said: “Allies and Nato partners must continue to ensure Ukraine gets what it needs.”Ukraine hopes to sign major defence deals with at least seven Nato countries by the end of the year, according to a top official, highlighting a new aspect of Kyiv’s foreign policy intended to show it can be a provider as well as a recipient of military hardware and expertise, reports Shaun Walker. Kyiv has signed “drone deals” with six countries in recent months.Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest against what it said was a Russian drone strike on a fuel station belonging to state oil and gas company Socar in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region on Sunday. The ministry said other Socar-owned facilities in Ukraine, including an oil depot in Odesa, had previously been damaged in military strikes. “The continuation of such incidents, despite repeated warnings, indicates the deliberate nature of these attacks,” it said in a statement on Monday. There was no immediate response from Russia.Poland has provided €3.8bn ($4.3bn) in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the Polish defence minister said, calling the amount “worth boasting about”. The announcement came as Poland’s defence ministry began declassifying its military donations to Ukraine amid an ongoing diplomatic dispute between Warsaw and Kyiv over second world war-era massacres. Continue reading...
Starmer to rally European allies at Nato summit amid concerns over US stance
Outgoing PM will stress British commitment to defence spending at meeting in Ankara to counter Trump rebukesKeir Starmer will seek to work with European allies to shore up support for Nato at its summit in Ankara on Tuesday amid concerns that Donald Trump could further destabilise the military alliance with threats over defence spending.Downing Street said the prime minister and other international leaders would be focused on “building a stronger and more European Nato” as they attempt to address the US president’s concerns in the Turkish capital. Continue reading...
