Ukrainian drones strike three oil refineries in Bashkortostan; deadly strikes hit Kyiv

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck three oil refineries in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. He said the refineries process millions of tonnes of oil each year and are located nearly 1,600km from Ukraine. The Russian online outlet Astra reported that a Ukrainian drone had set fire to an oil refinery in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan.

Zelenskyy also said that a sanctioned Russian container ship, the Yanina, sank in the Black Sea after being hit by Ukrainian drones. He described it as one of the facilities sustaining Russia’s war effort. Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, whose shipping subsidiary FESCO operates the vessel, claimed the ship was carrying civilian goods such as frozen food and construction materials.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost off-site power for nearly two hours – the 23rd time this has happened since the full-scale invasion. The plant, which is illegally occupied by Russia and not operating, needs external power for cooling systems that keep its nuclear materials safe.

Ukraine’s campaign to cut off occupied Crimea from Russia has caused power cuts that have left people queueing for hot meals in the streets. Reuters reported residents waiting in Massandra for food cooked in large pots. The head of Massandra’s town administration, Oksana Madyud, said her staff were serving about 200 people a day, as not everyone can cook on electric hobs. A local woman named Marina said her bad leg made it hard to climb down from her 10th-floor apartment, but the lack of electricity had sent her looking for a gas cooker and cylinders. Another elderly resident, Alexandra, said she had been without power for 10 days and came down after smelling lunch; electricity was switched back on at 4pm, but she was not sure it would stay.

Lithuania’s foreign minister said on Saturday that its embassy in Kyiv had been damaged when Russian missiles struck nearby. There were no injuries, but windows broke, solar collectors were damaged, and debris scattered across the yard. Minister Kestutis Budrys said Russia’s embassy representative would be summoned for a protest. He argued that continued support for Ukraine, enhancing its resilience, and piling sanctions pressure on Russia could force it to the negotiating table.

Recovery efforts continued in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone barrage killed at least nine people and wounded 33 civilians overnight into Saturday. In the Solomianskyi district, a five-storey residential building was damaged and caught fire. Rescue workers evacuated 35 people from upper floors; two died and eight were injured, including two children. In the Darnytskyi district, seven people were killed and 14 injured after the attack caused fires and damage to homes, vehicles, an administrative building, and a non-residential building. Firefighters also extinguished a blaze in a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

A Russian airstrike killed one person and wounded five more in the southern city of Kherson, local officials said. Zelenskyy again pleaded for Patriot missiles, saying every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves lives, and every night without them brings more casualties. Ukraine was only able to shoot down one of the 27 ballistic missiles in Friday night’s barrage due to air defence shortages.