Ukraines drone strikes cripple Russian oil infrastructure as Moscow refineries remain offline: seven civilians freed in prisoner swap

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11 months · 11 summary articles
Ukraine’s sustained drone campaign against Russian oil infrastructure entered its second week on Saturday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 40-day “influence operation” gathered pace with strikes on refineries in Tula, Moscow and beyond. Ukrainian forces intercepted 660 drones across 12 Russian regions on Thursday alone, while explosions rocked a chemical plant in Tula and Moscow’s largest refinery remained offline until at least 2027, according to Reuters . The campaign has crippled fuel supplies, triggered nationwide rationing and forced civilians to queue for hours at gas stations, with authorities in Crimea declaring a state of emergency after repeated Ukrainian attacks severed power and transport links to the peninsula .
In a parallel development, Ukraine secured the release of seven civilians unlawfully held by Russia since 2022, including a volunteer from the Angels of Taira brigade detained in Mariupol, the Ukrainian ombudsman reported . The freed Ukrainians, aged 35 to 66, had been seized from occupied areas of Mariupol, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, told reporters in Kyiv that Moscow no longer sets the tempo of the war, while NATO allies warned of a “highly unstable” eastern flank and urged accelerated preparations for potential Russian escalation . Turkish officials reaffirmed readiness to host fresh Ukraine-Russia peace talks, though the Kremlin reiterated its demand for negotiations on its terms .
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko unexpectedly relented to a Ukrainian ultimatum on Friday, ordering the dismantling of relay stations used by Russia to guide drone strikes, according to Norwegian and German outlets . The move followed closed-door talks in Valdai between Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin, described by Hungarian media as tense and secretive .
Russian military adviser Flash warned that continued fighting would plunge central Russia into darkness and cold, while Ukrainian forces claimed control of the village of Novoskeliuvate in Dnipropetrovsk region, 31 kilometres north of Huliaipole . Meanwhile, Slovakia’s prime minister refused further military aid to Ukraine and proposed sending a delegation to Ankara without a formal mandate, underscoring widening fissures within the alliance .
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