Smoke rises above the Tuapse oil refinery in southwest Russia after Ukrainian drone strikes, April 16, 2026

Sunday’s Coverage: 6 Killed in “Terrorist Act” in Kyiv

UPDATE 1101 GMT:

One civilian has been murdered and 26 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 113 of 142 drones, but 28 UAVs hit 18 locations.

In the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, one person was killed and seven injured.

Casualties were also recorded in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sumy regions.

In the Kyiv region, Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a military communications expert and an advisor to Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, was wounded in an attempted assassination by Russian drones.

UPDATE 0942 GMT:

Swedish intelligence assesses that the Kremlin is systematically manipulating economic statistics, hoping to deceive Ukraine’s Western allies into believing that Russia’s economy has withstood the pressure of sanctions and military spending.

Swedish military intelligence chief Thomas Nilsson said Russia is understating its budget deficit by $30 billion. The inflation rate is closer to the key interest rate of 15% than to the Central Bank’s official figure of 5.86%.

He estimated that for Russia’s budget deficit to be covered, Urals crude oil prices need to remain above $100 per barrel for a year. They must remain at that level for even longer to mitigate other economic problems.

Nilsson said Sweden has identified financial indicators that could point to a future banking crisis. The German Foreign Intelligence Service agrees, reports the Financial Times.

Sweden believes Russia is “living on borrowed time,” Nilsson said.

The Russian economy can only follow one of two scenarios: a long-term downturn or a shock. In either case, it will continue on a downward trajectory toward financial catastrophe….

They still have a systemic problem. It’s not a sustainable growth model to produce material for the war that is then destroyed on the battlefield.

Vladimir Putin noted last week that Russia’s GDP contracted 1.8% in January and February, including a decline in industrial production and construction.

Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said a day later that “external conditions are now getting worse on an almost constant basis for both exports and imports”.

UPDATE 0935 GMT:

The death toll has risen to seven from Saturday’s mass shooting in Kyiv.

A man passed away from his wounds early Monday.

Seven injured civilians, including a child, are still in hospital Four are in intensive care.

Dmytro Vasylchenkov, a 58-year-old native of Moscow who lived in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, shot dead four people on the street. He took hostages in a supermarket, killing one of them. A woman later passed away from her injuries.

UPDATE 0931 GMT:

Ukraine has reportedly hit two Russian warships and a radar system in occupied Crimea.

UPDATE 0837 GMT:

A summary of Russia’s overnight strikes on Ukraine, wounding civilians and damaging homes and infrastructure:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s latest attacks inside Russia have struck an oil refinery and a drone manufacturing plant.

Early Monday, Ukrainian drones hit the Tuapse Oil Refinery in Krasnodar Krai in southwest Russia for the second time in four days.

Explosions were followed by large fires in the area. At least two storage tanks were reportedly ablaze.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev confirmed an attack “at the seaport of Tuapse” without mentioning the refinery.

Tuapse is one of Russia’s ten largest refineries, with a processing capacity of around 12 million tons of petroleum products per year.

On Sunday, Ukraine damaged the Atlant-Aero plant, which develops and manufactures strike and reconnaissance drones for the Russian military, in Taganrog in southern Russia.

Atlant-Aero produces Molniya-type drones and components for the Orion UAV. The UAV can carry up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of payload, including guided aerial bombs and missile systems.

Ukrainian forces also struck an ammunition depot and fuel storage tanks in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, and logistics warehouses in the occupied Donetsk region in the east.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure cost Moscow at least $2.3 billion in lost revenue in March.

“We will continue this work in April,” he pledged.

Zelensky: More Agreements on Security Cooperation

The President also pledged “more important announcements regarding our security cooperation with partners next week”, including on air defense and support for the Ukrainian army.

He said an arrangement with India is being completed so documents are in place.

Zelensky cited implementation of agreements with seven European countries, including on joint drone production. He noted the recent signature of 10-year pacts during his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

The agreements with the Gulf States followed Ukraine’s provision of anti-drone weapons, technology, and experts amid Iranian retaliatory strikes in the US-Israel War.