Motorists line up to fill their tanks at a Gazpromneft gas station in Yaroslavl on July 15, 2026. Russia, among the world’s leading oil producers, has imposed a series of limits on gasoline sales nationwide as Ukrainian attacks on refineries, fuel depots and transport networks squeeze supplies at home.
Igor Ivanko | Afp | Getty Images
Ukraine’s military hit two Russian oil refineries located hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, in the latest sign that Kyiv is intensifying its campaign against Russia’s energy infrastructure.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian forces targeted the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Bashkortostan as well as the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region.
Writing on social media, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s long-range sanctions had “once again worked” by restricting Russia’s oil income, which he said Moscow uses to fund the war and the killing of Ukrainians.
The Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl is one of Russia’s largest oil-processing sites. Located far from Ukraine and roughly 170 miles, or 274 kilometers, northeast of Moscow, the facility has been attacked by Ukrainian forces before during the war.
The refinery employs more than 3,500 workers and handles about 15 million tons of crude oil annually, according to information on its website. It produces a broad range of petroleum products, including gasoline, jet fuel and various oils.
Yaroslavl regional governor Mikhail Evraev said Thursday that the area had come under its largest drone assault to date, adding that air defenses and electronic warfare systems had destroyed 93 drones.
“Falling debris hit the oil refinery’s storage tanks. Emergency services are working to extinguish the fire,” Evraev said via Telegram. There were no casualties, but four people sustained injuries, he added.
Alongside mid- and long-range drone strikes on energy infrastructure, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s Amazon-style retail giant Wildberries in recent weeks, seeking to squeeze a critical piece of Russia’s consumer economy and create a new pressure point for President Vladimir Putin.
Russian forces, meanwhile, have increased the number of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, likely seeking to exploit Kyiv’s shortage of ballistic missile interceptors.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy also said the country’s armed forces had responded to Russian attacks on ships in the Black Sea by striking two military patrol boats and shadow fleet vessels.
One person was killed and three others were injured in a Russian attack on a foreign-flagged ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat in the Black Sea, according to Odesa’s regional governor, Oleh Kiper.
A fire broke out on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship, Kiper said via Telegram on Thursday, and the crew was evacuated.
