Fire at a Russian oil refinery after a Ukrainian drone strike, August 2, 2025

Tuesday’s Coverage: Kyiv Strikes Key Facilities in Russia and Occupied Crimea

UPDATE 0718 GMT:

Taiwan’s Economy Minister says the country’s privately-run refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha if the European Union makes a request.

Taiwan is now the world’s biggest importer of naphtha, a petroleum derivative used to make chemicals for the semiconductor industry.

In the first half of 2025, Taiwan imported $1.3 billion, with average monthly imports almost six times higher than the 2022 average and 44% greater than the first half of 2024.

UPDATE 0709 GMT:

At least five civilians were killed and 37 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses intercepted 154 of 183 drones, while 22 struck 11 locations.

A thermal power plant owned by DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, sustained “serious damage”. Two staff were wounded.

In the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, power was cut to more than 4,500 customers by Russia’s second strike on energy infrastructure in the Nizhyn district this week.

In the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, three civilians were murdered and 15 injured. Eight apartment buildings and seven houses were damaged.

In the Donetsk region in the east, two people were slain and 10 wounded.

Casulaties were also reported in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.

UPDATE 0653 GMT:

Russian authorities are checking students’ phones in schools in occupied Crimea.

“Activists of Ukrainian movements in the temporarily occupied territories report that in schools in Crimea, representatives of the occupation administration together with Russian military personnel are checking children’s mobile phones — searching for banned apps, VPN services, and even the Ukrainian language in the settings,” reported Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

The authorities may subject a student and their parents to additional checks if a Ukrainian keyboard is found on their phone.

“Such actions are part of the policy of Russification and the destruction of Ukrainian culture in occupied territories,” teh Center said.

More than half of Ukrainian children under Russian occupation have been subjected to indoctrination, while some reported torture and sexual violence, Save Ukraine and War Child UK documented last month.

UPDATE 0640 GMT:

Ukraine is increasing natural gas imports by 30% after recent Russian airstrikes on its energy infrastructure.

After a meeting with Western ambassadors, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk told reporters, “We plan to import throughout the coldest months, although the priority now is to secure imports for October-December and, if necessary, for other months.”

She said the volume depends on the speed of recovery, the intensity and targeting of Russian attacks, and the severity of damage to the gas transport system.

“We are preparing for various scenarios, including the worst-case ones,” Hrynchuk assured.

Ukraine’s projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2026 has decreased by more than 3%, according to a newly released World Bank report.

Citing the increase in gas imports, the World Bank has lowered its projection of Ukraine’s growth to 2% in 2025, a slowdown from 2.9% in 2024.

In June, the Bank forecast growth of 5.2% but it noted, “Russia’s prolonged invasion affects investment and business activity” as “infrastructure damage constrained domestic production”.

The Bank did find positive trends in “a significant transformation, with the emergence of new sectors and productivity upgrades in existing industries likely to contribute to job creation”.

It cited job growth from information technology, agriculture and agro-processing, and defense.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine has carried out its deepest strike inside Russia, targeting an oil refinery in western Siberia.

The Antipinsky refinery in the Tyumen region is around 2,000 km (1,240 miles) from the Ukrainian border. It has a processing capacity of 9 million tons of crude per year.

Tyumen residents posted videos online showing fire trucks and ambulances rushing toward the refinery late Monday. Local channels on Telegram reported at least two explosions and mobile network disruptions.

Regional authorities said emergency crews were dispatched to an industrial site in Antipino after reports of explosions and fire, but claimed that no blaze was found. Less than 30 minutes later, they said three drones were “detected and neutralized on the premises of an enterprise”.

“A prompt response from emergency services prevented a detonation. There were no casualties, explosions or fires. All enterprises in the area continue to operate normally,” declared the Tyumen government press service.

In contrast, Andriy Kovalenko of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council posted, “It’s a bad night for the Antipinsky refinery in Tyumen”.

The attacks came hours after Ukrainian drones struck a series of high-value facilities supportedly Russia’s 44 1/2-month full-scale invasion.

They included two airbases, a major ammunition deport, and the largest oil refinery in Russian-occupied Crimea; a major explosives plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region; and energy facilities in Belgorod in western Russia.

Zelensky: Toughen Measures v. Russia’s Shadow Fleet

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on partners to toughen measures against Russia’s “shadow fleet”, aging tankers used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil and to carry out sabotage operations.

He noted that tankers are suspected of launches of Russian drones, including over Denmark last month which closed airports and put military installations on alert.

Danish police suspected that the Boracay was involved in the launches. The ship was later boarded and halted by French troops, and its captain is scheduled to go on trial in February on charges of failing to cooperate with authorities.

Zelensky said:

We share the information we have with our partners, and it is crucial that they take tangible steps in response to Russia….

The Russians must know that none of their destructive actions – all the vile things they do – will go unanswered by the world.