Ukrainian forces carried out strikes on a Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl, approximately 700 km from the Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement this morning.
“In particular, overnight, the Defense Forces of Ukraine operated against targets associated with the Yaroslavl oil refinery – about 700 kilometers from our territory,” he said in the statement on Telegram.
“We are bringing the war back home – to Russia – and that’s only fair,” he added.
The strike in Yaroslavl comes as the latest attack on Russian oil facilities this year. On Thursday, Zelensky stated that Ukrainian forces had struck another oil refinery in Syzran for the eleventh time, 700 km deep into Western Russia.
“Another Ukrainian long-range sanction against Russian oil refining – and we are continuing this line of action,” President Zelensky wrote in a post on X/Twitter announcing the strikes.
Ukrainian Special Operations Forces working in tandem with Ukraine’s Security Service carried out the attack on the refinery, which reportedly left large fires at the facilities in Syzran and Yaroslavl, according to reports from Euro News and Reuters.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Ukraine has retaliated with strikes on 24 of Russia’s 33 oil refineries, according to EA Worldview. In conjunction with American and European sanctions, Ukrainian strikes have driven the Kremlin’s oil revenues down by 47%, according to analysis from EA Worldview.
“Our responses to Russia’s prolongation of the war and its attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified,” Zelensky said, defending Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory.
Russia has kept up relentless drone and missile strikes across Ukrainian territory with one assault recording over 1,500 drones and 54 missiles fired at Ukraine in just 48 hours the BBC reported.
Another Russian air assault saw 524 long-range drones and 22 missiles launched at the Dnipro region of Ukraine this week. According to Ukrainian officials, the drones and missiles were targeting residential areas as well as military targets.
