Zelenskyy orders threefold increase in long-range strikes on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday evening that he has instructed the military to raise the pace of long-range drone strikes on Russia to 1,000 per day, up from roughly 300 currently, saying there is a concrete goal that will be met.

Fuel shortages in Russia

According to two industry sources cited by Reuters, Russian gasoline output had fallen to about 70% of domestic demand by late August after drone strikes forced several major refineries offline, including facilities in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl. After a brief easing of restrictions in late July, shortages returned across Russian regions in August.

Western officials estimate Russia is losing roughly 6,000 more troops each month in Ukraine than it can replace, even though it continues recruiting new soldiers at a pace of about 1,000 per day.

Ukraine's food logistics hit hard

Ukraine's agriculture minister, Taras Vysotskyi, said Friday that recent Russian air attacks had destroyed about 90% of the food logistics capacity operated by retail chains, though he stressed this would not leave Ukrainians without food. It was described as the most candid official acknowledgement yet of the toll Russia's intensified strikes are taking on Ukraine's economy.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine has stored 14.6bn cubic metres of gas underground, enough to cover a baseline winter scenario.

Other developments

Russia's Rostov region declared a state of emergency on Friday after port closures and navigation disruptions in the Azov-Black Sea basin caused a significant buildup of unsold agricultural goods at farms.

Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, dismissed in July, has taken up a role as innovation adviser to Italy's Defence Ministry.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported three drone incidents this week near the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, including a strike near the cooling pond that injured two staff, and two drones hitting the site's spent fuel storage area and sprinkler system. Radiation levels remained normal.

Russian forces struck Ukraine's Kyiv region with drones again on Friday, damaging warehouses, apartment buildings and private houses for a second consecutive day.