Ukraine’s strike on the Kstovo oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 457 km east of Moscow, in January 2025

Saturday’s Coverage: Russia Murders 14+ in Missile and Drone Attacks

UPDATE 0744 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses downed 76 of 93 drones fired by Russia overnight. The other 17 struck 10 locations.

UPDATE 0735 GMT:

The toll has risen to 16 civilians murdered and 94 injured by Russia’s attacks across Ukraine on Good Friday and Saturday.

In Nikopol in south-central Ukraine, at least five people were slain and 27 injured by a Russian drone strike on a market.

In Kramatorsk in the east, six civilians were murdered and 10 wounded in attacks on homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

UPDATE 0726 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed “new steps in security cooperation” with Turkey after Saturday’s meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Zelensky posted:

This primarily concerns areas where we can support Türkiye – expertise, technology, and experience. There is firm political readiness to work together, and our teams will finalize the details in the coming days.

We discussed practical steps to implement joint projects in developing gas infrastructure, as well as opportunities for joint development of gas fields.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine is continuing strikes on Russia’s oil refineries despite Trump Administration requests to halt the attacks.

Overnight, Ukrainian drones hit a Lukoil oil refinery in Kstovo, more than 450 km (280 miles) east of Moscow and around 800 km (497 miles) from the frontline. A large explosion lit up the night sky, and photos and videos confirmed a blaze inside the facility.

Entangled in the US-Israel War on Iran, affecting global oil and gas supplies, the Trump camp reportedly told Ukraine last week to stop the attacks which have crippled Russian exports.

In an interview published on Saturday, Presidential Chief of Staff Kyrolo Budanov said, “Let’s answer this diplomatically. We are receiving certain signals about this.” He did not specify any countries that requested the halt of the attacks.

Russia’s government revenues from oil sales fell 47% in January and February, compared to a year attack, amid the attacks and US sanctions.

While the Trump Administration has waived sanctions on Russia’s maritime oil shipments until April 11 because of the US-Israel War, Ukrainian strikes have suspended operations at the Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk. The two complexes handle 40% of Russian maritime oil exports.