Thursday’s Coverage: More of Russia’s Leading Oil Refineries Set Ablaze

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1744 GMT:

A 76-year-old woman has been killed by Russian shelling of the village of Dolynka in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.

“Fragments of a Russian projectile injured a civilian resident who was in the yard of her own house. The woman died of her injuries on the spot,” Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov posted on Telegram.

UPDATE 1732 GMT:

Ukraine Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak has commented on the Russian missile strikes killing at least 20 people and wounding of at least 73 in the port city of Odesa (see 1650 GMT).

The Russians fired two Iskander-M missiles in a “double tap” attack, hitting medics and rescuers as they responded to the initial strike.

Ten people suffered serious injuries. A three-story recreational facility was destroyed, and at least 10 private houses, a low-pressure gas pipeline and rescue vehicles damaged.

UPDATE 1658 GMT:

Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against a woman who poured green dye into a ballot box to disrupt voting in the Presidential election.

CCTV footage show a policeman detaining the woman. She was charged with “obstructing the exercise of electoral rights or the work of election committees”.

UPDATE 1650 GMT:

Russian missile strikes on Odesa in southern Ukraine have killed at least 16 people and wounded at least 73.

Among the casualties are medics and rescuers, in what appeared to be a Russian “double tap” attack. The first responders were hit just after they rushed to the site following the initial strike and were trying to extinguish a fire.

The strikes damaged 10 private houses, a service station, a low-pressure gas pipeline, and two fire and rescue vehicles.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, posted, “The world should know. The world should not forgive! The terrorist state must be held accountable for its cynical war crimes against Ukrainians.”

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chair of the Ukrainian Parliament, wrote:

UPDATE 1050 GMT:

Ahead of his meeting today with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has posted:

UPDATE 1045 GMT:

Ukraine has attacked yet another Russian oil refinery.

The drone strike on the refinery in the Kaluga region, 65 km (40 miles) southwest of Moscow, caused damage, according to a Ukrainian intelligence source.

Kaluga Governor Vladislav Shapsha claimed that air defences shot down four drones in the area and that there had been no infrastructure damage or casualties.

The Kaluga refinery is smaller than the other major facilities struck by Ukraine this week, affecting more than 12% of Russian production of refined oil.

UPDATE 0743 GMT:

Two civilians were killed and three hospitalized by a Russian drone attack on the Vinnytsia region in western Ukraine on Thursday night.

A 52-year-old man was killed immediately when a residential building was damaged. His wife, 53, died in hospital on Friday. The couple’s 26-year-old son was rescued from under the rubble and is being treated for injuries.

The Ukraine Air Force had said that air defenses downed all 27 Iran-type attack drones fired by Russia overnight.

The UAVs were intercepted over the Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv regions.

The Russians also launched seven S-300 and S-400 missiles in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions and a Kh-59 guided missile in the Poltava region.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: French President Emmanuel Macron has re-emphasized that all options must be on the table to defeat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring that “there will be no red lines” in France’s support of Kyiv.

In an interview on Thursday night on French TV, Macron explained:

If Russia wins this war, Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero….

Today, deciding to abstain or vote against support to Ukraine, it’s not choosing peace, it’s choosing defeat. It’s different.

Macron put the issue in the wider context of Putin’s threat across the continent.

If war spread in Europe, Russia would be to blame. But if we decided to be weak; if we decided today that we would not respond, it would be choosing defeat already. And I don’t want that.

Two weeks before Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Macron was in the Kremlin trying to avert the assault. He continued his efforts in its first months, urging negotiation with Putin.

But the President’s position has toughened this year, amid Putin’s dedication to overruning Ukraine and uncertainty about US assistance to Kyiv.

Two weeks ago, Macron suggested that European and NATO troops might be deployed within Ukraine to support Kyiv’s resistance. The idea was rejected by most leaders in Europe, the US, Canada, and NATO, with only the Baltic States offering a measure of endorsement.

See also Ukraine War, Day 735: Allies Knock Back Macron’s Suggestion of Troops

Macron declined to give details of any deployment last night:

I don’t want to do so. I want Russia to stop this war and retreat from its positions and allow peace. I’m not going to give visibility to someone who is not giving me any. This is a question for President Putin.

I’m not going to be precise.

But the President stressed that Ukraine is in a “difficult” situation on the ground, given Russia’s overwhelming advantage in artillery shells, and that stronger support from allies is necessary.

Peace does not mean the capitulation of Ukraine,” he said. “Wanting peace does not mean defeat. Wanting peace does not mean dropping Ukraine.”

While the time would come to negotiate peace with a Russian President, Macron said it would be with “whoever it might be”, rather than with Putin.

One of the first responses came from Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis:

We tried to get Putin to de-escalate by putting limits on how much we help Ukraine. This obviously hasn’t worked. Putin is much more likely to be deterred by Emmanuel Macron’s strategic ambiguity and clearly defined goal of defeating Russia.