President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Wednesday that Kyiv’s recent strikes across Russia were intended to increase pressure on the Kremlin via the Russian public.
The remarks came after Ukraine launched another wave of long-range strikes targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure hundreds of kilometers from the front line, with months of attacks culminating in at least 43% of disabled Russian oil output and a sprawling fuel crisis.
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“Russians must feel that it is their state that is waging this war,” Zelensky said in an update as he announced the latest strikes.
Zelensky said the overnight attack reached Russia’s Saratov region, as well as the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, approximately 800 km (500 miles), 1,400 km (870 miles), and 1,500 km (930 miles) from the front line, respectively.
Targets were also struck in Russia’s Voronezh region, about 300 km (190 miles) from Ukraine’s border.
The strikes follow another attack on Russia’s largest refinery in Omsk, over 3,000 km (1,864 miles) from the Ukrainian border, on Monday. The attack – also the farthest documented strike by Ukraine – reportedly shut down operations at the refinery.
“Ukraine is responding entirely fairly to Russia’s strikes against our country and to its prolongation of the war,” Zelensky said.
The president thanked Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Special Operations Forces (SSO), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and military intelligence for carrying out what he called precise long-range strikes.
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According to Zelensky, Ukrainian forces struck the Saratov oil refinery, while the SSO hit an oil refinery in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan.
On Wednesday, the SSO said their Deep Strike units had successfully struck two major oil refineries in Nizhnekamsk and Tatarstan, including the TANECO refinery complex and the TAIF-NK refinery.
Authorities described the operation as part of Ukraine’s ongoing campaign against Russia’s critical oil industry.
In June, Zelensky said he had approved a 40-day SBU operation aimed at increasing pressure on Russia and pushing Moscow toward ending its war against Ukraine.
The announcement came as Ukraine continues to expand its use of medium- and long-range strikes against Russian targets, including sites inside Russia and in Russian-occupied territories.
Many of the operations have been focusing on Russia’s oil industry, a key source of revenue and logistics for Moscow’s war effort.
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