Ukraine attacks refinery in Perm – Russian drone attacks in the east

Ukraine has attacked a refinery in Perm, Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. The attack took place at night, Zelensky said on Telegram. According to media reports, there was a fire. Perm is located about a thousand kilometers northeast of Moscow in the Russian hinterland. The information cannot be independently verified.

More than four years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russian oil industry facilities in order to damage the country's economy.

The attacks cause a fuel crisis: gas stations often run out of gas or have to ration the quantities they sell. In total, Ukraine has currently used hundreds of drones against Russian targets. In Moscow, several capital airports temporarily suspended flight operations due to air alerts. Russian anti-aircraft defense reported in unverifiable information that it had shot down 325 Ukrainian drones.

Ukraine's counterstrikes are a response to increasingly deadly attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian cities. The UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine reports that 437 Ukrainian civilians died in July. The last time the number of victims was this high was in May 2022. Kyiv's biggest weak point is the lack of Patriot missiles: the only effective defensive weapon against the Russian army's ballistic missiles is hardly available anymore.

According to Ukrainian authorities, at least two people have now been killed in Russian drone attacks in eastern Ukraine.

In the attack with six drones on the village of Lebyazhye in the Kharkiv region, two women aged 66 and 73 were killed and two other people were injured. This was announced by Oleh Synjehubow, military governor in Kharkiv, on Telegram. Five houses caught fire, three were destroyed and many more were damaged. According to the Ukrainian air defense system, Russia used a total of 135 drones against the country, 107 of which were shot down.

“Meat,” “Arrival,” “Zero”: In the war against Ukraine, soldiers ascribe new meaning to words. Meanwhile, civilians are also using military jargon to describe a reality that the Kremlin denies. Read here which codes Russian soldiers use when they talk about death.