Ukraine says major Russian oil refinery and airfield hit, as Moscow reports eight deaths

What the report says

Ukraine said it carried out overnight strikes deep inside Russia, hitting a major oil refinery and the Engels airfield in the Saratov region, which it described as a key base for Russian strategic aviation. According to the Ukrainian side, the attacks also reached an oil depot in Kaluga and a drone launch site in Bryansk. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strikes part of Ukraine’s effort to target facilities he says support Moscow’s war economy.

Russia said eight people were killed in the Ukrainian attacks and claimed to have intercepted or shot down 635 drones. Russian regional officials also reported damage in several places, including civilian infrastructure in Saratov and Engels, and later said two people died there. Separate reports from Russian regions mentioned additional deaths in Udmurtia and Belgorod, though BBC’s report presents these as part of the Russian account of the overnight violence.

Moscow, in turn, said its forces struck two Ukrainian ports and two vessels in the Black Sea. Ukraine later said one person was killed in a Russian strike near Kharkiv. The exchange comes amid a recent intensification in attacks by both sides, with energy facilities, warehouses and transport sites increasingly targeted as frontline positions remain largely static and diplomacy shows little progress. The BBC report also notes that the war began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.