Ukraine has launched an overnight assault on key oil facilities in southern Russia, hitting two refineries and over a dozen fuel tankers. These attacks are deepening a nationwide fuel crunch and adding pressure to a network already strained by repeated Ukrainian strikes.
The drone strikes are part of a campaign designed to choke off supplies and transportation routes in and out of Crimea. Ukrainian unmanned systems have cut overland routes and begun targeting Russian shadow tankers, while drone attacks this week destroyed 36 Russian ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
Kyiv states these strikes are fair retribution for more than four years of Russian barrages on Ukraine and are intended to force Russia to the negotiating table. The campaign against Russian energy and logistics has already forced Moscow to ban diesel exports and restrict shipping near the Sea of Azov.