Ukraine war latest: Yet another Russian oil refinery hit, General Staff confirms

Key developments on May 19:

• Ukraine says it struck major Russian oil refinery, pumping station
• Russia hits Ukraine's Chernihiv, Sumy oblasts in morning attacks, killing 5
• China secretly trained Russian soldiers who later fought in Ukraine, Reuters reports
• Russia launches large-scale nuclear forces drills after Belarus exercises
• Russian military hospitals overwhelmed by wounded soldiers from war in Ukraine, media reports

Ukraine struck one of Russia's largest oil refineries and an oil pumping station on May 18 and May 19, Ukraine's General Staff said, after Russian officials reported drone attacks in Yaroslavl Oblast and near Moscow.

Ukrainian forces struck the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, the General Staff said, where a fire was recorded on the facility's territory on May 18.

Ukraine also struck the Yaroslavl-3 oil pumping station near the settlement of Semibratovo in Yaroslavl Oblast, the General Staff said on May 19, adding that the extent of the damage was still being clarified.

The General Staff said the refinery "is one of the largest oil refining enterprises of the Russian Federation" with a processing capacity of around 17 million tons of oil annually. According to the Ukrainian military, the facility produces gasoline, diesel fuel, and aviation fuel "used to support the needs of the Russian occupation forces."

Earlier on May 19, explosions were reported in the Russian city of Yaroslavl following a reported drone attack, according to local Russian media and officials.

Yaroslavl Oblast Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said the region had come under a drone attack and announced traffic restrictions on a key highway leading toward Moscow. Authorities temporarily closed part of the route and urged residents to avoid the area.

Russia hits Ukraine's Chernihiv, Sumy oblasts in morning attacks, killing 5

Russian forces struck the city of Pryluky in Chernihiv Oblast with a ballistic missile and attacked the Hlukhiv community in neighboring Sumy Oblast with drones on the morning of May 19, killing five people and injuring at least 33 others, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The attacks came as Russia continued large-scale aerial strikes across Ukraine and intensified attacks on energy infrastructure. Overnight, Moscow launched 209 drones at Ukraine, according to the Air Force.

The strike on Pryluky hit around 10 a.m. local time after Ukraine's Air Force warned of a ballistic missile threat targeting the city.

According to the Chernihiv Oblast Military Administration, the missile struck near a local business in the city center. The attack damaged nearby commercial and residential infrastructure, including shopping centers, shops, pharmacies, educational facilities, apartment buildings, private homes, and more than 30 vehicles.

Chernihiv Oblast police said that, as of 3:20 p.m. local time, three people had been confirmed killed in the strike, including a 15-year-old boy who later died in hospital from his injuries. At least 29 people were injured.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service added that a fire broke out in a warehouse belonging to a shopping center chain following the strike. Firefighters later extinguished the blaze.

Separately, Russian forces attacked the Hlukhiv community in Sumy Oblast with drones on the morning of May 19, killing two men aged 52 and 58 and injuring four others, local authorities said.

According to the Sumy Oblast Prosecutor's Office, Russia struck civilian infrastructure in the Shostka district with two drones at around 10 a.m. The attack damaged administrative buildings and apartment blocks in the city of Hlukhiv.

Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov said the injured included two women and two men, all of whom were hospitalized.

Chernihiv and neighboring Sumy oblasts, which border Russia for roughly 230 kilometers (143 miles) and 560 kilometers (348 miles) respectively, have faced frequent cross-border attacks throughout the full-scale war due to their proximity to Russian territory.

China secretly trained Russian soldiers who later fought in Ukraine, Reuters reports

The Chinese military secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China in late 2025, with some later returning to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reported on May 19, citing three European intelligence agencies and documents seen by the agency.

The covert training, focused largely on drone warfare, was outlined in a Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior officers from both countries in Beijing on July 2, 2025. The agreement said Russian troops were to be trained at Chinese military facilities, including in Beijing and Nanjing, Reuters reported.

The documents and intelligence assessments cited by Reuters said the training also covered electronic warfare, army aviation, armored infantry, explosives handling, demining, and counter-drone measures.

One intelligence official told Reuters that by training Russian military personnel who later participated in combat operations in Ukraine, China appears more directly involved in Russia's war effort than previously known.

The report adds to mounting evidence of expanding military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. A Kyiv Independent investigation published in December 2025 found that Chinese military officials and defense industry representatives visited Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion to inspect military equipment and discuss training cooperation.

That investigation also found that China sought Russian military equipment and training for its paratroopers while directing money to sanctioned Russian defense companies.

Reuters reported that some of the Russian personnel trained in China were military instructors capable of passing battlefield experience and technical knowledge down the chain of command. One European intelligence agency told Reuters it had identified several Russian servicemen who trained in China and later took part in drone combat operations in occupied Crimea and Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Russia launches large-scale nuclear forces drills after Belarus exercises

Russia began large-scale exercises involving its nuclear forces amid what Moscow described as a "threat of aggression," the Russian Defense Ministry said on May 19.

The drills, scheduled to run through May 21, involve Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern and Pacific fleets, long-range aviation command, and units from the Leningrad and Central military districts, the ministry said.

The exercises will include preparations for the use of nuclear forces and launches of ballistic and cruise missiles at test ranges within Russia, according to the ministry.

More than 64,000 personnel and over 7,800 pieces of military equipment are taking part in the drills, including more than 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface ships, and 13 submarines, eight of them strategic missile submarines, the ministry said.

The stated goals of the exercises are to improve command coordination, test troop readiness, and practice "deterrence" operations against a "probable adversary," according to the ministry.

The announcement comes a day after Belarus said it had begun joint exercises with Russian forces involving units tasked with the combat use of nuclear weapons.

Russian military hospitals overwhelmed by wounded soldiers from war in Ukraine, media reports

Russian military hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of soldiers wounded in the war against Ukraine, forcing authorities to repurpose civilian hospitals, maternity wards, and other medical facilities for military use, independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on May 19.

"They don’t talk much about the 'special operation' soldiers because there are so many of them that military hospitals cannot accommodate them," a former nurse at the Dzhanelidze Research Institute of Emergency Medicine in St. Petersburg told the outlet, using the Kremlin's official term for the full-scale invasion.

According to a report published by the independent think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in January 2026, Russian forces suffered nearly 1.2 million battlefield casualties — including killed, wounded, and missing —  between February 2022 and December 2025. CSIS estimated between 275,000 and 325,000 Russian battlefield fatalities over the same period, calling the losses unparalleled for a major power since World War II.

According to Novaya Gazeta, Russian authorities have expanded military medical infrastructure since the start of the full-scale invasion, transferring civilian medical buildings to the Defense Ministry and opening military wards in ordinary hospitals.