Flames rise from the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery after Ukrainian drone strikes, Yaroslavl, Russia, May 8, 2026 (Euromaidan Press)

Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Our “Long-Range Capabilities Are Significantly Changing the Situation”

UPDATE 1717 GMT:

For the first time, a NATO fighter jet shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone in the airspace of a bloc member, Estonia.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said a Romanian jet, taking part in the Baltic air policing mission, downed a drone which likely was of Ukrainian origin and aimed at targets in Russia.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accused Moscow of intentionally redirecting Ukrainian drones into NATO territory, “We apologize to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents.”

The drone was shot down between Vortsjarv and Poltsamaa in central Estonia before crashing in a field. No casualties were reported.

UPDATE 1700 GMT:

The Chinese military secretly trained around 200 Russian military personnel in China in late 2025, with some later returning to fight in Ukraine, according to three European intelligence agencies, documents, and assessment.

The covert training, focused largely on drone warfare, was outlined in a Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior officers in Beijing on July 2, 2025. Russian troops were to be trained at Chinese military facilities, including in Beijing and Nanjing.

The training also covered electronic warfare, army aviation, armored infantry, explosives handling, demining, and counter-drone measures.

UPDATE 1653 GMT:

At least six civilians were murdered and at least 34 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 180 of 209 drones launched by Russia overnight.

The Russians carried out a third consecutive day of strikes targeting facilities operated by state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz.

In the Kherson region in the south, two people were killed and 14 injured. At least 12 houses, a shop, a bus, and several cars were damaged.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, two people were slain and 12 injured, including a child.

In the neighboring Donetsk region, two civilians were murdered and three wounded.

Casualties were also reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv regions.

UPDATE 0804 GMT:

During their summit last weekend, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin might ultimately “regret” his decision to invade Ukraine, claim “several people familiar with the US assessment“.

Putin is meeting Xi in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed a 10% drop in Russia’s refined oil amid Kyiv’s strikes on Moscow’s facilities.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky said Russian companies are being forced to shut down oil wells. He noted that the Kremlin’s budget deficit this year has already surpassed its planned gap for all of 2026.

Putin has, of course, built a war chest – but certainly not enough to fight indefinitely. Every one of our responses, every joint step of pressure together with our partners, pushes Russia closer to ending its war.

Overnight Ukraine’s drones targeted oil facilities in Yaroslavl, around 230 km (142 miles) northeast of Moscow and 700 km (435 miles) from the border.

Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Yevrayev acknowledged the attack and announced traffic restrictions on a key highway to Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said four drones were downed over the capital, warning of “falling debris”.

Russia got some relief on Monday with the Trump Administration’s extension of a sanctions waiver on Russian maritime oil supplies.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said that the waiver, instituted in mid-March amid the US-Israel War on Iran, would not be renewed. But he announced a 30-day extension: “This general license will help stabilize the physical crude market and ensure oil reaches the most energy-vulnerable countries.”

The Russian Government’s oil revenues fell 47% in January and February amid the US sanctions, launched on Moscow and its customers last November. They recovered in March amid the waivers, but fell again last month because of the Ukrainian attacks.