Ukraine knocks out Russian refineries as Russia kills dozens in Kyiv

Ukraine has pounded Russia’s refineries with heavy strikes successful the past week, worsening its petrol shortages and causing Moscow to widen a prohibition connected exports of petroleum products.

Russia responded with a deadly onslaught connected Kyiv and a barrage of statements portraying Moscow’s “special subject operation” arsenic a occurrence and Ukraine arsenic teetering connected the borderline of surrender.

Russian President Vladimir Putin utilized his quality astatine the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) acme to suggest Russian vigor exports to China and India were booming, but reports suggested that Moscow is heavy discounting its crude to clasp onto clients.

Ukraine’s European and determination allies are gathering connected Thursday to effort to finalise information guarantees successful lawsuit a ceasefire should travel about, portion calling connected US President Donald Trump to usage sanctions to property Putin into nonstop negotiations with Kyiv.

Russian violative operations

Russia redeployed marines and paratroopers – elite units – from Ukraine’s bluish Sumy portion to the eastbound portion of Donetsk connected September 1, suggesting it whitethorn beryllium preparing a renewed propulsion for the metropolis of Pokrovsk, which Ukraine has identified arsenic a Russian cardinal tactical nonsubjective successful the eastbound since August 2024.

Russia past week gave up connected an violative for Dobropillia, a municipality whose seizure would person enabled an encirclement of Pokrovsk from the north, aft stiff Ukrainian resistance.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskii confirmed that Dobropillia and Pokrovsk remained among the astir aggravated conflict zones on the beforehand past week, on with Lyman, a metropolis further north.

Between Lyman and Pokrovsk lies the alleged “fortress belt” of cities – Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhivka and Konstiantynivka – considered 1 of Ukraine’s astir heavy fortified sections of the front, suggesting Russia whitethorn beryllium intending its encirclement alternatively than head-on assault.

Ahead of Putin’s sojourn to Tianjin, China, connected Sunday to be the SCO summit, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov connected Saturday said the Russian “unstoppable offensive” had seized much than 3,500 quadrate kilometres (1,350 quadrate miles) and 149 settlements since March.

“Gerasimov is inflating astir of his claims,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based deliberation tank, assessed, concluding that Russian gains stood astatine 2,346sq km and 130 settlements since March.

The ISW besides disagreed with Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov’s assertion connected Friday that “at the opening of the year, we were liberating 300–400 quadrate kilometres monthly, and this fig has reached 600–700 quadrate kilometres”.  The ISW said Russia had taken 445sq km successful July and astir 500sq km successful August.

Ukraine’s caput of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, besides disagreed with Gerasimov’s assertion to person captured fractional of the metropolis of Kupiansk successful the north.

“All the fantasies of Russian warfare correspondents astir power implicit fractional of the metropolis of Kupiansk up to the centre bash not correspond to reality,” helium wrote connected the Telegram messaging service. “The accepted maneuver is that runners with flags tally around, they are filmed by a drone, and past propagandists bash their job.”

Russia did people operational occurrence successful the occidental Black Sea for the archetypal clip since 2022, erstwhile it had mislaid its flagship guided rocket cruiser Moskva and power implicit Zmiinyi Island.

On August 28, the Russian Ministry of Defence said it had sunk the Ukrainian reconnaissance vessel Simferopol successful a drone onslaught astatine the rima of the Danube river. Surface kamikaze drone footage depicted an attack towards a vessel matching the Simferopol, and abstracted footage recorded an explosion.

Ukraine pioneered the usage of naval drones to descend Russian ships successful the occidental portion of the Black Sea. This whitethorn beryllium the archetypal recorded lawsuit of Russia successfully utilizing the aforesaid tactics and doing truthful astatine the precise borderline of European Union territorial waters.

On the aforesaid day, Russia conducted 1 of its largest aerial attacks connected Kyiv, aiming overmuch of its salvo of 598 drones and 31 missiles there.

The death toll yet reached 26, including 4 children, aft a residential gathering successful the Darnytskyi neighbourhood was destroyed by two missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid flowers determination the pursuing day.

Between August 28 and September 3, Russia launched 2,189 drones and 108 missiles successful each astatine Ukraine’s cities down the beforehand line. Ukraine intercepted 88 percent of the drones and 79 percent of the missiles.

Ukrainian attacks connected Russian refineries

Ukraine struck backmost successful the Black Sea connected August 28, erstwhile its subject quality rendered the Kalibr-carrying vessel Buyan-M inoperable, aft striking it with 2 drones.

But its main effort was connected Russian soil.

On the aforesaid day, Ukrainian drones struck the Kuibyshev refinery successful Russia’s Samara region, 1,000km eastbound of Ukraine. They besides struck the Afipsky refinery successful Krasnodar Krai, immoderate 400km from unoccupied Ukraine.

The 2 refineries can process implicit 13 cardinal tonnes of lipid a year, conscionable nether 5 percent of Russia’s full capacity, said Ukrainian officials, and are key to the Russian warfare machine.

Industry sources told Reuters that Kuibyshev’s 2 superior refining units had been deed and each lipid processing had stopped. Processing had resumed lone a week earlier, aft a Ukrainian onslaught connected August 2.

On Friday, Kovalenko said drones had struck the Krasnodar and Syrzan refineries, some of which person been struck before. Geolocated footage confirmed the Syrzan hit, and Krasnodar officials admitted a occurrence successful their facility.

Reuters estimated that successful August alone, Ukraine had taken retired 17 percent of Russian refining capacity.

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commandant Robert “Magyar” Brovdi enactment the fig astatine 21 percent.

Russia past week extended an export prohibition connected refined petroleum products by a month, until October 31, to support “a unchangeable concern successful the home substance market”. The prohibition has been successful unit since March 1.

Russian officials person documented petrol rationing successful Russia and the occupied territories. Russia said it would seek to rise its exports of crude lipid by 200,000 barrels a day, due to the fact that it couldn’t process the lipid itself.

Crude lipid sells for little than refined products anyway, but reports past week suggested Russia was heavy discounting its crude successful an effort to clasp customers. According to Bloomberg, Indian refiners were being offered a $4 a tube discount compared with Brent crude prices, up from $2.5 a week earlier and $1 successful July.

Ukraine has besides sought to bounds Russian exports, which bring currency for its warfare economy.

Last week, officials astatine the Ust-Luga export terminal adjacent St Petersburg said the terminal would run astatine fractional of its capableness owed to pipeline harm from Ukrainian drones.

Ukraine has been processing its ain long-distance termination vehicles to onslaught heavy wrong Russia without Western weapons, whose usage is often restricted.

Last month, it unveiled its archetypal dense cruise missile, the FP-5, nicknamed the Flamingo, susceptible of a 3,000km scope carrying a 1,150kg warhead, and connected Monday whitethorn person made a first battlefield use of that rocket against a Russian borderline station adjacent occupied Crimea.