Updated 21.24 | Published 21.17
Here, an oil refinery is burning 2,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The facility is said to have been hit by Ukrainian drones.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump are planning how Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine can end.
Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy infrastructure continue. Now they have attacked a large oil refinery in Siberia.
The refinery, operated by Gazprom Neft, is located on the northern outskirts of the city of Omsk, about 2,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. NASA satellites recorded several fire outbreaks at the facility on Monday.
– A hit with subsequent fire has been confirmed in the refinery area. The extent of the damage is being verified, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a post on Facebook.
Omsk Region Governor Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed that several drones had penetrated Russian air defenses and attacked the refinery. He did not say if anything was injured, but said that emergency services were sent to the scene.
This is reported by the Moscow Times.
Summit in Ankara
According to sources for the Reuters news agency, the Omsk plant refined around 23 million tonnes of oil, equivalent to around 460,000 barrels per day, last year.
The attack comes just the day before the NATO summit in Ankara begins.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the President of the United States Donald Trump are expected there to discuss ideas on how Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine can end.
The meeting between the leaders will be held on July 8.
It happens at the same time that Ukraine believes that there is now a good opportunity to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to start direct negotiations with Zelenskyi.
An American official with insight into the preparations states for Kyiv Independent that Trump plans to present his view of a peace agreement with Russia to Zelenskyi.
After the meeting, the American president is also expected to have a telephone conversation with Putin.
Several attacks on Russian cities
In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly attacked Russian cities, including Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Omsk.
At the same time, Russia has stepped up its airstrikes against Ukraine. Russian strikes killed 31 people on July 2 and at least 19 on July 6, while continued robot and drone attacks have increased pressure on Ukraine’s already strained air defenses.
Trump recently said that Zelenskyi is “doing a pretty good job” of defending Ukraine against the Russian invasion. He also called on Russia to “make a deal”.
