Russia-Ukraine war: Attacks continue on Russian oil refineries as US talks loom
The latest attacks on Russian oil refineries by Ukraine come four days before the scheduled resumption of talks with the United States and Russia.
Ukraine is continuing to launch attacks on targets associated with Russia’s oil sector in response to Russian strikes on energy targets.
President Volodymyr Zelensky made the announcement on Friday, four days before the scheduled resumption of talks with the United States and Russia aimed at moving towards a resolution of the war against Russia. This will be the first such meeting since February.
“The operation against the Russian oil refining sector is continuing -- in response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities,” Zelensky said following discussion of a report on Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets.
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“The Russians have not changed the nature of their aggressive actions, have refused the de-escalation steps that our partners talked about, and are counting on launching further strikes.”
Russian officials reported several strikes on oil industry targets in the past week without Ukrainian officials specifically claiming responsibility for them, including in central Samara Region. Yaroslavl, north of Moscow, and industrial facilities in Ryazan, south of the capital, were also struck.
US President Donald Trump has asked Ukraine several times to halt attacks on Russian refineries, saying the strikes pushed up diesel prices.
Mr Zelensky has said that Ukraine is ready to stop the attacks if Russian strikes on energy targets are halted.
Meanwhile, Russia is already using its new Rassvet satellite network - billed as a homegrown version of Starlink - for military communications over Ukraine, aiming to make its strike drones more accurate and harder to jam, Ukrainian military intelligence told Reuters.
Russia has launched 32 Rassvet satellites into orbit so far in 2026 in two batches in March and July, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense (GUR). The Russian government said last month that Russia had launched more than 30 satellites.
That is a tiny fraction of the more than 10,000 satellites in the Starlink network, run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the military version of which - Starshield - operates in Ukraine but not in Russia. Access to SpaceX systems, which Moscow does not have, has greatly helped Kyiv in the war against invading Russian forces.
Moscow plans further Rassvet launches by the end of 2026 to increase the network’s geographic coverage, bringing it gradually closer to a full low-orbit satellite communications system, GUR said in a written statement.
