Zelenskyy says Ukraine hit Russia’s Yaroslavl refinery

Ukrainian forces carried out overnight drone and missile strikes on targets connected to Russia’s Yaroslavl oil refinery, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) from Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Friday.

Targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure

Zelenskyy described the refinery as a facility of “great importance for financing Russia’s war.” He added that the strikes also hit locations in what he called “temporarily occupied” areas of Ukraine. “We are bringing the war back home — to Russia — and that’s only fair,” he wrote on social media platform X. Kyiv is also preparing “other forms” of long-range sanctions and midrange strikes in response to continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian communities.

Claiming significant Russian losses

According to Zelenskyy, Russian casualties since the start of the year have exceeded 145,000 personnel, including nearly 86,000 killed, at least 59,000 seriously wounded, and more than 800 soldiers taken prisoner. He also stated that in the border areas of the Sumy region, Ukrainian forces are “achieving designated objectives” and continue to destroy Russian personnel and equipment on multiple fronts.

Long-range sanctions taking effect

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy claimed that Russian oil refining capacity had dropped by at least 10% in the first months of the year due to Ukrainian “long-range sanctions.” “We see that our Ukrainian long-range sanctions are truly effective, and we will continue to scale up this line of our active actions,” he said. The strikes and sanctions target Russia’s energy revenue, which finances its war machine.