Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region overnight, around 700 km (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday, marking the latest in Kyiv’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure.
Zelenskiy said the operation targeted facilities linked to the Yaroslavl refinery, as Ukraine intensifies long-range attacks aimed at disrupting Russia’s oil industry and reducing revenues used to support Moscow’s war effort.
The strike comes amid a broader escalation in Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy assets, with Kyiv increasingly hitting the same facilities multiple times to prolong operational disruptions.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said on X that its forces had targeted 11 Russian oil facilities by May 21, including the Kirishi refinery, one of Russia’s largest processing sites.
Recent drone attacks have forced many major refineries in central Russia to suspend or reduce fuel production, according to official data and sources cited this week.
Zelenskiy said the strategy was intended to shift the impact of the conflict onto Russian territory, stating that bringing the war “back home” to Russia was justified.
The attacks coincide with rising global energy prices linked to tensions involving Iran and a partial easing of sanctions on Russian oil exports.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on strikes against energy infrastructure as part of efforts to weaken Russia’s economic capacity to sustain the war.