Russian leadership is shifting a major portion of its air defense assets to safeguard a select group of prime targets, including Moscow, as Ukrainian long-range drones successfully strike sites deep inside Russian territory, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In new strikes overnight, Zelenskyy reported on Thursday that Kyiv\u2019s forces hit two additional Russian oil refineries in Ufa, located 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the front line, along with an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has ramped up its aerial campaign against Russian energy facilities and military installations over recent months. This success has contributed to fuel shortages and disrupted army supply lines, which has stalled Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion after more than four years of fighting. In his nightly address on Wednesday, Zelenskyy indicated that Russia is concentrating air defenses around the capital as well as Valdai, a town situated 500 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Moscow that serves as the site of a residence for President Vladimir Putin. He noted that they are also prioritizing the protection of the Kerch Bridge, a critical supply route linking the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy claimed that the Moscow region currently holds hundreds of launchers for air defense missiles, with approximately 90 launchers redeployed to Valdai from various other regions within Russia. While it was not possible to independently verify these claims, which painted the Russian leadership as prioritizing its own protection over that of other regions, Russian officials did not provide an immediate comment. Ukrainian drones have targeted Moscow and St. Petersburg\u2014Putin\u2019s hometown\u2014this month, as Ukraine continues efforts to isolate Crimea, the peninsula Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.<\/p>\n
The adjustments to air defense, Zelenskyy suggested, would leave other Russian territories vulnerable to Ukraine\u2019s increasingly advanced long-range drones, which are capable of flying over 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). Zelenskyy emphasized that these difficulties for Russia stem from Putin\u2019s refusal to conclude the war or engage in genuine negotiations for peace. While Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire requested by U.S. President Donald Trump, Putin has rejected it. Trump recently referred to the Ukrainian leader as \u201ccourageous\u201d and noted he is \u201cdoing pretty well\u201d in the war. Zelenskyy also secured pledges of sustained support at a recent G7 summit, which he believes will help create conditions forcing Russia to seek peace.<\/p>\n
Regarding Belarus, which Moscow utilized to launch its 2022 invasion, Zelenskyy reported that signal repeaters used to guide Russian drone attacks appear to have been turned off following his demand last week. However, Zelenskyy warned on Telegram that Belarus is finalizing the construction of road infrastructure and storage facilities for fuel and ammunition along the border for military use. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko stated he met with Zelenskyy\u2019s representatives to warn against the use of force, noting Belarus has no intention of entering the war directly but will stand alongside Russia. Meanwhile, Ukrainian military officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for roughly 1,000 residents remaining in the Chernihiv region near the border starting July 1.<\/p>\n
The Russian Defense Ministry stated its air defenses downed 269 Ukrainian drones from late Wednesday into Thursday. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia launched 90 long-range drones and a ballistic missile overnight. In the northeastern Sumy region, one drone struck a gas station on Thursday, injuring four people. Regional head Oleh Hryhorov noted that Russian forces have attacked the region\u2019s gas stations 13 times during June. Additionally, French authorities intercepted the oil tanker Deliver in the Mediterranean, suspecting it of operating as part of Russia\u2019s shadow fleet to bypass sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is moving a significant part of its air defenses to protect Moscow and other key sites after long-range drone strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[546,545,51,275,127],"class_list":["post-867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-air-defense","tag-drone-strikes","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fastblogtheme.com\/pressnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}