Kyiv, August 2 (ANI): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said Ukrainian forces carried out long-range strikes on key Russian military and energy infrastructure, including the Saratov Oil Refinery and the Engels military air base, as part of efforts to weaken Russia’s war capabilities.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces targeted strategic facilities deep inside Russian territory.
“Last night, in Russia’s Saratov, more than 600 kilometers from the front line, two strategic facilities were hit: the Saratov Oil Refinery and the Engels military air base,” he said.
Zelenskyy also said the tank farm at the Lyudinovskaya oil depot in Russia’s Kaluga region was struck. He added that Ukraine carried out a precision strike on a site in the Bryansk region used to “store, prepare, and launch attack drones.”
He thanked Ukraine’s defense forces for expanding the country’s long-range strike capabilities and said Kyiv was “bringing the war back to where it came from.”
In a separate post on X, Zelenskyy said 16 Ukrainian regions came under Russian attack over the past week.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia launched about 1,900 drones, nearly 1,600 aerial bombs, and 144 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles.
He said the northeastern Sumy region was struck by aerial bombs, while a drone attack in Brovary killed one person and injured six others.
Zelenskyy added that Kharkiv and the surrounding region remained under constant attack, while overnight strikes also targeted the Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro regions.
He said more than 1,500 sites, including hundreds of residential buildings, were damaged during the week’s attacks.
Calling for stronger international measures against Moscow, Zelenskyy said many Russian enterprises involved in producing components for drones, missiles, and guided aerial bombs have not yet been sanctioned.
“Pressure is needed on every segment of Russia’s defense-industrial complex, and that is exactly the pressure that will ultimately help reduce the number of attacks against our people. Sanctions must be expanded, and they must work,” he said.
The developments follow Zelenskyy’s appeal on Saturday for Western allies to immediately provide Patriot air defense interceptors to Ukraine, arguing that anti-ballistic missiles should defend lives rather than “sit in stockpiles.”
His appeal came after Russia launched a large-scale aerial assault involving 35 missiles, most of them ballistic, along with nearly 190 drones. Zelenskyy said the attacks primarily targeted the capital, Kyiv, and critical infrastructure in surrounding municipalities, including Brovary and Vyshneve. At least nine people were killed and 40 others were injured in the Kyiv region.
Calling on Washington and European capitals to make the necessary political decisions, Zelenskyy warned that delays give Moscow more opportunities to target Ukrainian civilians as Russia continues to refine its attack tactics.
“Of course, we see every leader and every country that responds. But the only strong and just response—the one that truly achieves its goal and helps people—is additional support for us here in Ukraine, for our people, for our state. The world has Patriot missiles. What matters now is for our partners to make the political decision—the decision to provide the necessary packages,” Zelenskyy said.
“The United States knows what we need. Europe knows what we need. Anti-ballistic missiles must protect people—not sit in stockpiles. And every day without this vital assistance gives Russia another chance to kill our people,” he added.
Zelenskyy also warned that Moscow is increasingly using jet-powered Shahed drones, saying the prolonged war is allowing Russia to develop new tactics that pose broader security threats beyond Ukraine.
He said continued FPV drone attacks and shelling were reported in Kherson, Mykolaiv, and the Dnipro region cities of Nikopol and Marhanets. Strikes also damaged an apartment building in Odesa and hit communities in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Sumy, leaving dozens more people wounded.
Along with requesting additional air defense systems, Zelenskyy called for stricter international sanctions targeting individuals and entities involved in producing Russian ballistic weapons, launchers, and related components.
Claiming there are enforcement gaps within G7 jurisdictions, he urged international partners to block channels supporting Russia’s oil refining capacity and fuel sector in an effort to weaken Moscow’s war effort. (ANI)
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