Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a stark warning to Belarus, urging the country to dismantle relay stations that Kyiv claims are crucial in allowing Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. Zelensky stated that Kyiv is aware of four such relay stations and demanded that the Belarusian government take action. If Belarus fails to comply, Zelensky warned that Ukraine will take matters into its own hands.
Belarus has been a close ally of Moscow throughout the war, and its president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, is a key supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine is also aware of every factory in Belarus that works for Russia and supports the war effort. In a separate development, Ukraine launched an attack on a Russian oil refinery in Siberia, more than 2,500 kilometers east of the Ukrainian border.
The Tyumen refinery, one of Russia’s most modern and complex, has a nominal capacity of around 8 million metric tons per year. Meanwhile, Zelensky warned that Russian forces are preparing a massive attack and urged residents to take special care. Russian strikes in different regions have killed at least six people, and Ukraine has confirmed a fresh Russian attack on the city of Sumy, resulting in damage to several buildings and injuring eight people.
Additionally, Russian forces struck the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with glide bombs, killing four people and injuring six. In response to these developments, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced that he will strip Zelensky of Poland’s highest state honor over Ukraine’s decision to name a military unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during World War II. Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces had hit an oil depot in the Russia-occupied Crimean city of Kerch and an oil transport facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight.
The Russian-installed governor reported that at least four people were killed and 28 wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the peninsula. Ukraine has also sent a Moscow oil refinery up in flames with its largest drone attack on the city in two years, disrupting commercial flights at the city’s airports. Russian air defenses shot down at least 194 drones headed for the city, but at least seven of Ukraine’s drones managed to reach the refinery.
The attack was part of a major, long-range attack across parts of Russia, with air defenses intercepting 555 drones overall. In response to the attack, Crimea halted all fuel sales to individuals and businesses, with fuel only being supplied to government agencies. Ukraine’s drone attacks have killed at least five people in Crimea and the Krasnodar region.
The UK has also tested new long-range strike weapons, with the government hoping for delivery to Ukraine within months. The initiative aims to produce munitions more quickly and affordably than existing systems like Storm Shadow missiles. The new systems, capable of hitting targets at least 500 kilometers away and carrying a 225-kilogram warhead, have been fired at a range in the Hebrides, with further UK trials planned.
