Ukraine ‘blows up major Russian oil refinery’ on day Zelensky arrives back home
Ukraine may have launched a major attack on Russian soil just as President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from a diplomatic tour of the US and Europe.
His country’s future seemed uncertain after the international visits. While European leaders lined up to voice support for Ukraine, US President Donald Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine to handle Russia itself.
‘You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,’ Trump said on Friday, refusing to reinforce any ceasefire with US military might.
Trump appears to be cosying up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin over NATO allies in Europe, claiming the pair had spoken on ‘numerous occasions’ since a phone call on February 12.
Is that true, reporters asked Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. No further meetings, he said – not any the public should know about, at least. Zelensky left the Oval Office humiliated on Friday, Ukraine’s alliance with the USA appearing to go up in flames. Just as Zelensky arrived back in Ukraine on Sunday after a stopover to rally the allies in London, a major Russian oil refinery also went up in flames.
Explosions rocked the Ufimsky fuel facility in Ufa, a city near the Ural mountains 1,165km east of Moscow. Flames could be seen rising above the city’s skyline as it burned for hours overnight. The blasts, so big locals thought it was an earthquake, may have been caused by a pinpoint drone strike launched by Ukraine.
Russia blamed the fire on unspecified technical issues near the furnace at the Bashneft-owned facility, which processes up to 168,000 barrels of oil a day. But video footage shared on Russian Telegram channels in the early hours of this morning show an explosion outside the building before it was engulfed in flames.
The Russian defence ministry said its air defence units downed seven Ukrainian drones last night, but Ufa, Bashkiria, was not listed as a target.
Ukraine does officially confirm or deny strikes on refineries. But it is known to target them in an ongoing campaign to disrupt Russia’s supply lines and hamper its economic capacity to fund the war.
Last April, the company behind the Ufa refinery installed anti-drone nets around its facilities to protect against Ukrainian drones. An attack so deep inside Russia, far from the frontline in Ukraine, would show the country’s ability to strike back against its aggressor even without US military support.
Its burgeoning domestic drone industry has helped turn the tide in the Black Sea region, destroying much of Russia’s far superior fleet there.
On Sunday, Russia used ballistic missiles to try and sink a container ship reportedly carrying a cargo of weapons to Ukraine as it docked at Odesa. In a message aimed at Donald Trump, recorded on his train back to Kyiv, Zelensky stressed the need for ‘security guarantees’ in a peace settlement.
He said: ‘We need peace, not endless war. And that is why we say that security guarantees are the key to this.
‘In the near future, all of us in Europe will shape our common positions – the lines we must achieve and the lines we cannot compromise on.
‘These positions will be presented to our partners in the United States. Robust and lasting peace, and the right agreement on the end of the war are truly our shared priority.’
The gathering also considered assembling a ‘coalition of the wiling’, including the UK and France, to provide a peacekeeping force to guarantee a ceasefire in Ukraine – if they can rally US support.
Trump has made his support for a deal contingent on Ukraine signing over billions of its mineral wealth to the USA. Zelensky had been due to sign this deal when he visiting Washington DC last week.
The Ukrainian president has since said he is ‘ready to sign it’, despite that meeting descending into an on-camera argument.