Smoke rises from Russia’s Saratov Oil Refinery after Ukrainian drone strikes, July 8, 2026 (Exilenova)

EA-Ukraine VideoCast: How Serious is Russia’s Fuel Situation?

UPDATE 1604 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed his meeting with Donald Trump at the NATO Summit, focusing on the “strong emphasis placed on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense to better protect people’s lives”.

Trump said he would assist with Ukraine’s need for anti-ballistic missile systems:

We are gonna give a license to you to make Patriots….This way you can’t complain that we are not giving you enough.

Make them yourself.

Trump said he has not spoken to the manufacturers of the Patriots, Lockheed Martin and RTX Corporation.

He said the US will not supply Ukraine the interceptors: “We have Patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves too.”

UPDATE 1424 GMT:

The toll has risen to four civilians killed and several injured from Russia’s drone and ballistic missiles on Kyiv overnight.

At least 10 civilians were slain and at least 121 injured across Ukraine over the past day. Air defenses downed 139 of 169 drones, but 20 UAVs hit 11 locations. Two Kh-31P missiles were intercepted; however, five ballistic missiles struck four locations.

In Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, at least two people were murdered and 34 injured, including four children, as a five-story residential building was struck by a missile.

Two other people were slain and 35 wounded in the region.

In the Kherson region, a 72-year-old woman and 53-year-old man were killed and 24 injured.

Casualties were also reported from the Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Donetsk regions.

UPDATE 0854 GMT:

Two civilians have been murdered and 20 injured, including three teenagers, by a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv.

Emergency services are still on the scene.

UPDATE 0850 GMT:

Ukraine struck another nine Russian “shadow fleet” tankers in the Sea of Azov last night, says Ukrainian unmanned systems commander Robert Brovdi.

Kyiv has now struck 21 vessels in 72 hours: 19 tankers hauling fuel toward occupied Crimea, one cargo ship, and one ferry in the occupied port city of Kerch.

UPDATE 0835 GMT:

A woman has been murdered and two people injured by a Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv overnight.

The missile set fire to warehouse facilities in the Desnianskyi district. A separate blaze broke out in an administrative building in the Sviatoshynskyi district.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine has struck a series of Russian targets, including a major oil refinery, a petrochemical plant, and eight tankers.

In the latest assaults to constrict Russia’s economy, hindering its 52 1/2-month full-scale invasion, Ukrainian drones set afire the Saratov Oil Refinery.

The refinery, hit for the second time this month, is around 460 km (285 miles) east of the Ukrainian border.

The petrochemical plant is in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, around 1,300 km (800 miles) from the border.

The commander of Ukraine’s unmanned system, Robert Brovdi, reported the strikes on the shadow fleet tankers, used by the Russians to circumvent oil sanctions and to threaten sabotage operations.

Drones also struck a dry cargo ship and a ferry.

The assault further disrupted power in Russian-occupied Crimea, which is at risk of being cut off by months of Ukrainian attacks on fuel supplies, logistics, and bridges.