KYIV, Ukraine (BN24) — Russia said Sunday it launched a coordinated overnight missile and drone strike on Ukraine’s Kremenchuk oil refinery, a critical facility supplying fuel to Ukrainian troops fighting in the eastern Donbas region.
According to a statement from the Russian Defence Ministry, the assault on the refinery in the central Poltava region was executed with missiles fired from both sea and air, supported by strike drones. The ministry claimed the operation was successful, targeting what it described as a strategic logistical hub for Ukraine’s military.
The Kremenchuk refinery has long been considered a vital node in Ukraine’s defense network, providing fuel for units engaged in the contested Donbas region, which Russia claims as its own territory. Moscow currently occupies significant portions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the two provinces that comprise Donbas, and continues to push for full control.
Russia also said its forces had seized control of Malynivka, a village in Donetsk known in Russia as Ulyanovka. The village lies near the frontline where Russian troops have stepped up their offensive amid fierce Ukrainian resistance.
Separately, Russian forces claimed to have broken through enemy defenses in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, inflicting what the ministry called “heavy losses” on Ukrainian forces. While Sumy is not among the territories Russia has formally annexed, Moscow has repeatedly voiced intentions to establish a security buffer zone in the area to prevent cross-border incursions.
Ukraine has contested the Russian account. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops had retaken Andriivka village in northeastern Sumy as part of ongoing efforts to expel Russian forces and reclaim lost territory. Zelenskyy also warned that Russia had amassed approximately 53,000 troops near the Sumy border, signaling the potential for intensified hostilities.
The battlefield developments come as both sides brace for a prolonged war of attrition, marked by frequent missile strikes, drone warfare, and incremental territorial changes.
