Ukraine war latest: Drone strike sparks fire at major Russian oil refinery, General Staff says
on Google
Key developments on Aug. 26:
- Major Russian oil refinery in flames after drone strike, General Staff confirms
- Top commanders to lead reinforcement of Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast, Zelensky says
- US chips outnumber China's in Russian missiles, Ukraine says
- Ukraine thwarts FSB assassination plot against defense company head
- Ukraine resumes strikes on Russia's Wildberries with 'massive drone attack' in Tambov Oblast
Ukraine struck Russia's NORSI oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, overnight on Aug. 26, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed.
The Lukoil refinery is one of the most important oil processing and gasoline production facilities in Russia.
The General Staff said the refinery was hit, causing a fire on the premises. The extent of the damage is currently being assessed, it added.
Before reports of the fire emerged, residents in the Kstovo area reported an air raid alert and drones overhead. Soon after, monitoring channels began posting photos and videos from locals of flames engulfing the refinery.
Russian authorities have not yet commented on the reported strike at the refinery.
President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X on Aug. 26 that over the past day, Ukraine struck 16 targets in Russia.
The president said that Ukraine conducted long-range strikes against Russia's oil facilities, a military enterprise, Russian logistics, airfields, a missile unit, and infrastructure that is used by Russia to launch attacks against Ukraine.
Kstovo lies approximately 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
"The war must return to where it came from. Ukraine responds to Russian strikes, and we do so in a way that ensures the cost of the war for the aggressor inevitably rises," Zelensky wrote.
NORSI, or the Lukoil-Nizhegorodorgsintez refinery, is Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest gasoline producer, processing around 15-17 million metric tons of crude annually. It also produces bitumen, as well as diesel and aviation fuel used to support Russian forces.
Top commanders to lead reinforcement of Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast, Zelensky says
Andrii Biletskii, commander of the Third Army Corps, and Denys Prokopenko, commander of the National Guard's 1st Corps, will lead reorganized units tasked with reinforcing Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Aug. 26 on X.
The announcement came during Zelensky's visit to the front line with Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi, where they met with units fighting in the Oleksandrivka sector at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk oblasts.
Prokopenko has fought against Russia since 2014, when he joined the then-volunteer "Azov" Battalion on July 11, founded by Biletskii, who served as its first commander.
Both formations, commanded by Biletskii and Prokopenko, have been deployed to some of the most heavily contested sectors of the Donetsk sector, including around Dobropillia and Lyman.
Russian forces heavily struck Dobropillia since the August breach. Lyman, located in northern Donetsk Oblast with a pre-war population of around 20,000, has been a hotspot on the front line for years, where fighting raged in the Serebrianskyi Forest, just east of the city.
read also
US chips outnumber China's in Russian missiles, Ukraine says
Ukraine is set to introduce a sanctions package targeting companies that manufacture parts for Russian ballistic missiles, Presidential Sanctions Commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk told reporters on Aug. 26.
"We are talking about 100-plus companies," said Vlasiuk about the new sanctions list that will include all Russian missile manufacturers starting sometime in mid-autumn.
Ukraine has asked the European Union to adopt a so-called "interim package" of sanctions in September that are designed to hinder operations of enterprises involved in the production of subparts for ballistic missiles launched towards Ukraine.
The main identified problem in the continuous delivery of microelectronic subparts appears to be customs regulations that do not govern distribution to third countries such as Vietnam and Kazakhstan.
Foreign components form a crucial part in the construction of Russian missiles as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year. In a map revealed to the media, leading countries manufacturing microelectronic components are the U.S., Switzerland, China, the United Kingdom, and France.
"We also expect that in the coming month(s), the relevant jurisdictions will adopt relevant sectoral sanction bans or apply relevant comprehensive export control measures," Vlasiuk said.
According to the latest investigations by the Ukrainian government, the distribution of microelectronic chips from China lags behind that of their American counterparts, as Chinese technologies seem "not relevant," as described by Vlasiuk and his experts.
It was also pointed out that the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict "opened the eyes of many countries to the scale of the threat of uncontrolled consumption."
read also
Ukraine thwarts FSB assassination plot against defense company head
Ukraine's National Police and Security Service (SBU) prevented an FSB plot to assassinate the head of a defense company in Kyiv, the agency announced on Aug. 26.
The suspect is a 63-year-old pensioner who relocated to Kyiv from Luhansk Oblast, most of which remains under Russian occupation. The SBU said he had been instructed to plant explosives beneath the driver's seat of the intended victim's car.
The SBU and the National Police said they discovered and neutralized the explosive device. It contained 1 kg of hexogen, equivalent to approximately 2 kg of TNT, according to the security services.
According to the SBU, the suspect received instructions from Russian handlers. He purchased two mobile phones and a power bank from a shop, retrieved the components for the homemade bomb from a hiding place, and, within a few days, assembled all the components and attached the improvised explosive device to the car, the SBU said.
He also placed a camouflaged mobile phone opposite the car to provide his Russian handlers with a live feed to trigger the explosion, the SBU said.
The suspect boarded a bus to Poland after planting the explosive device, intending to flee from there to Russia, according to the SBU.
Polish authorities arrested the suspect as he was fleeing to Russia through Poland and Belarus, Polish media report.
The SBU investigators submitted a request to Polish law enforcement authorities to extradite the detainee to Ukraine. He has been notified in absentia of the charges against him for a "completed attempt" to commit a terrorist act.
read also
Ukraine resumes strikes on Russia's Wildberries with 'massive drone attack' in Tambov Oblast
Ukrainian forces resumed strikes on Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries, after several days of attacks on its rival Ozon, monitoring channels reported on Aug. 26, as explosions were reported in Tambov Oblast and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
A Wildberries logistics hub was struck by Ukrainian forces in Kotovsk, Tambov Oblast, setting the site ablaze, according to monitoring channel Exilenova Plus.
Tambov Oblast Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said a "massive drone attack" sparked a fire that completely destroyed the facility. The governor added that workers had been evacuated before the strikes.
Pervyshov said two people were injured in the attack. A 19-year-old man suffered a concussion, while a 49-year-old woman broke a finger.
Russian air defenses shot down 13 drones, while mobile BARS-Tambov units intercepted another three. Despite the defenses, three drones struck the warehouse, according to the governor.
