Ukraine pummeled a strategic oil hub that supplies Moscow for the second time this month on Saturday — part of a new 40-day “influence operation” to force Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to end the war.
Drones detonated at the Vtorovo oil pumping station, 140 miles east of the Russian capital, Ukraine’s military intelligence reported on Telegram.
“Each affected facility means fewer resources for waging war and a higher price the Kremlin is forced to pay for continuing the aggression,” Ukraine’s Security Service wrote.
The plant, run by Russia’s state-owned Transneft, pumps diesel fuel to major oil depots around Moscow, Russian airports and export hubs on the Baltic Sea. It was previously hit by Ukrainian forces on June 10.
Kyiv also hammered one of the Kremlin’s key artillery-production facilities in Volgograd overnight, 550 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Fire erupted at the Titan-Barrikady plant, after Ukraine unleashed its long-range “Flamingo” missiles.
“Every Russian defense facility that serves the war against Ukraine is a just target,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X Saturday.
“The reach of Ukraine’s long-range weapons continues to expand. And it is precisely our pressure, day after day, that lays the groundwork for a dignified peace in the end.”
The ramped-up strikes are part of a 40-day campaign launched by Zelensky this week, tapping Ukraine’s military intelligence to coordinate strikes deep inside the heart of Russia “compelling it to end the war.”
It comes as President Trump is reportedly reconsidering his understanding with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their Alaska summit last August that any peace deal would require Ukraine to cede its industrial Donbas region.
Meanwhile, Russia – which declared a state of emergency in occupied Crimea Friday following one of Ukraine’s heaviest drone attacks of the war caused widespread blackouts and fuel shortages – killed at least seven people and injured 89 others in Ukraine overnight into Saturday, regional authorities reported.
In Sumy, one person was killed and 14 wounded after at least three rocket drones hit apartments and houses.
“Russia attacked a residential sector of Sumy with a modified jet-powered drone aimed at civilian infrastructure,” slammed Gov. Oleh Hryhorov.
Russian drones also struck a minibus in the Dnipro region, killing two people and injuring at least 12 others, including two 12-year-old girls hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, Ukraine’s National Police reported on Telegram.
“Unfortunately, there are casualties from this terror almost every day,” Zelensky added on X Saturday.
“The Russians are using various types of weapons to strike people, ordinary residential buildings, and our civilian infrastructure.”
Russia launched a barrage of 129 Shahed-type drones overnight across Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
In the past week alone, Russia has pounded Ukraine with some 1,400 attack drones, nearly 1,500 guided aerial bombs and 19 missiles, Zelensky said.
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