Drone offensive hits Russian oil tankers and refineries at 'industrial scale' as Moscow bans diesel exports

Ukraine launched 1 of its broadest caller drone offensives against Russia’s maritime and vigor networks this week, claiming strikes connected 21 vessels successful 3 days arsenic attacks connected large refineries heavy wrong Russia intensified unit connected Moscow’s substance supplies.

The question of attacks offered a striking show of Ukraine’s increasing long-range capabilities.

On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met President Donald Trump astatine the NATO acme successful Ankara, wherever Trump said the United States would let Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air-defense interceptors and the 2 leaders discussed a imaginable drone agreement.

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Drone footage shows occurrence and fume rising from, what the Rostov portion Governor said, was an bare lipid tanker, pursuing Ukraine's overnight drone attacks connected Russia, confirmed by the Ukrainian military, astatine a spot fixed arsenic the Sea of Azov, successful this screengrab from a handout video released connected July 8, 2026.  (Commander of Unmanned Aerial Systems Force/Handout via REUTERS )

Zelenskyy made aerial defence his apical precedence during the bilateral gathering and said the 2 governments had besides begun moving connected a abstracted drone agreement.

"Air defence is the priority," Zelenskyy said. He described the emerging drone woody arsenic "a precise bully beginning" and said helium hoped to sermon further details with Trump.

The timing allowed Zelenskyy to get astatine the acme with grounds that Ukraine’s home drone manufacture tin endanger Russian assets acold beyond the accepted battlefield.

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U.S. President Donald Trump holds a bilateral gathering with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside the NATO leaders acme astatine the Bestepe Presidential Compound, successful Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026 (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Trump praised Zelenskyy arsenic "very effective" and credited Ukrainian forces with successfully operating American weapons against Russia’s overmuch larger military.

"He’s had the champion instrumentality due to the fact that helium had our equipment," Trump said. "But idiosyncratic has to usage that equipment. And you person a batch of brave radical that are utilizing that equipment."

Ukraine is progressively forcing Russia to support refineries, airfields, shipping routes and different infrastructure acold beyond the front. Kyiv has not achieved a comparable breakthrough successful the grinding crushed campaign, and Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities. But repeated long-range strikes person begun disrupting substance accumulation and maritime logistics portion imposing costs connected parts of Russia that were erstwhile mostly insulated from the fighting.

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Black fume billows from the country of Gazprom Neftâs Moscow lipid refinery, located connected the southeastern outskirts of Moscow, connected June 18, 2026, pursuing what the Russian capital's politician described arsenic a large-scale drone onslaught by Ukraine.  (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said 9 Russian-linked vessels were struck successful the Sea of Azov connected Wednesday, bringing the fig targeted implicit 72 hours to 21.

Commander Robert "Magyar" Brovdi said the targets included 19 lipid tankers, a cargo vessel and a ferry operating adjacent Russian-occupied Crimea, according to East2West quality agency. He described the run against the fleet arsenic reaching an "industrial scale."

Ukrainian and Russian officials confirmed that the overnight violative targeted tankers, refineries, pipeline facilities and a subject airfield crossed respective Russian regions.

Ukraine says galore of the vessels were portion of Russia’s alleged shadiness fleet and were being utilized to transport substance to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow seized and illegally annexed successful 2014.

In this photograph taken by an anonymous source, fume rises from lipid retention facilities deed by occurrence successful Bryansk, Russia, connected April 25. (AP)

The maritime strikes were accompanied by attacks connected the Saratov refinery and vigor facilities successful the Russian regions of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Russian authorities said 1 idiosyncratic was killed successful Saratov.

Ukraine besides said it struck the Borisoglebsk subject airfield successful Russia’s Voronezh region. The basal has been utilized by Russian combat craft progressive successful attacks against Ukraine, according to Kyiv.

The latest question followed a Ukrainian onslaught Monday connected the Omsk refinery successful Siberia, astir 1,700 miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory. The installation is Russia’s largest lipid refinery and processed astir 460,000 barrels of crude per time past year, according to Reuters.

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Two manufacture sources subsequently told Reuters that the Omsk installation had halted lipid processing pursuing the attack.

The disruption comes arsenic parts of Russia look gasoline and diesel shortages attributed successful portion to repeated Ukrainian attacks connected refineries and substance depots.

Long lines person formed astatine filling stations successful respective cities, portion immoderate regions person introduced purchasing restrictions. Russia announced Wednesday that it was temporarily banning diesel exports done July 31 to support home supplies.

Smoke and flames emergence implicit Moscow connected June 18, 2026, pursuing a Ukrainian drone onslaught that deed the Kapotnya lipid refinery and different targets successful the Russian capital. (East2West)

The shortages person go 1 of the astir disposable ways the warfare is reaching mean Russians.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-funded RT network, acknowledged the hardships during an quality connected Russian authorities tv and urged Russians not to respond by challenging the country’s leadership.

"There is nary petrol," Simonyan said successful a translated clip distributed by determination media.

Recalling nutrient rationing aft the illness of the Soviet Union, she said: "We endured it. And we volition endure it now."

Simonyan argued that Russia’s enemies wanted the colonisation to respond arsenic it had during the 1917 gyration and "run disconnected to overthrow" the czar.

"Yes, it is hard, yes, precise hard," she said, urging Russians to stay calm.

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The unit connected Russia’s vigor infrastructure formed the backdrop to Zelenskyy’s Wednesday gathering with Trump astatine the Beştepe Presidential Compound.

Russia continued its bombardment of Ukraine during the summit, striking Kyiv and different cities with missiles and drones. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said retention facilities were burning successful the capital’s Desnyanskyi territory and reported different occurrence successful the Sviatoshynskyi district.