Ukraine targets Russian oil refinery, cargo ship
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Ukrainian forces hit a cargo ship carrying drone components (left), while a Ukrainian drone hit a Russian oil refinery (right).
PHOTO, SCREENSHOT: X
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- Ukraine struck Russia's Syzran oil refinery (owned by Rosneft), which produces aviation fuel, with a long-range drone.
- A Ukrainian drone also hit a cargo ship carrying drone components in Russia's Astrakhan region and damaged an apartment block.
- Russian attacks on Kharkiv and Donetsk killed six civilians, while Ukraine retaliates to Moscow launching missiles and drones.
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KYIV - Ukrainian drones hit a Russian oil refinery and an apartment block in an attack just hours before US President Donald Trump was to host his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for a high-stakes summit
Kyiv has targeted Russia’s oil depots and refineries in long-range drone attacks in what it calls retaliatory strikes for Moscow’s nightly barrages of Ukrainian cities and its energy grid.
The Ukrainian military said on Aug 15 that overnight it hit a large oil refinery in the central Russian city of Syzran, some 800 kilometres behind the front line.
“The Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region of Russia, one of the largest in the Rosneft system, was hit,” Ukraine’s general staff said, referring to the network of facilities owned by Russian state-run energy giant Rosneft.
It said the facility produced aviation fuel and supplied the Russian army.
Unverified images on social media showed multiple fires and grey smoke billowing from the site at dawn on Aug 15.
Kyiv also said its forces had hit a cargo ship carrying drone components in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region one day earlier.
Russian officials confirmed that a vessel was damaged and said no one was hurt in the attack. Unverified images on social media showed a large cargo ship partially submerged.
A separate Ukrainian drone strike on an apartment block in the Russian border region of Kursk killed one person and wounded 10 others, local Russian officials said.
“Unfortunately, a 45-year-old woman died on the spot,” Governor Alexander Khinshtein said in a video on Telegram, standing in front of a blown-out window.
Russian attacks also continued, with Ukrainian officials in the front-line Kharkiv and Donetsk regions reporting six civilians killed in strikes over the last 24 hours.
Ukraine has previously vowed to step-up its long-range strikes against Russia as Moscow launched record numbers of missiles and drones at Ukraine in June and July.
The attacks happened just hours ahead of Mr Putin and Mr Trump meeting
Russia has advanced on the ground ahead of the talks and Mr Trump has publicly mooted the idea of a territorial swop between the warring sides.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the Alaska summit, has ruled that out.
Russia’s army said Ukraine fired 53 drones overnight, while Ukraine’s air force said Moscow launched 97. AFP
