Smoke billows above the Tuapse oil refinery in southwest Russia, after strikes by Ukrainian drones, April 20, 2026

Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky at European Political Community Summit

UPDATE 0645 GMT:

Ukraine’s state oil and gas company Naftogaz says Russian missile and drone attacks on gas production facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions overnight “took the lives of three of our colleagues and two state emergency service responders”.

Another 37 people were wounded. Naftogaz reported “significant destruction and loss of production”.

UPDATE 0627 GMT:

At least four civilians, including two rescuers, have been murdered and 17 injured by Russian missile and drone strikes on Poltava in central Ukraine.

An industrial facility was hit, leaving almost 3,500 customers without gas, and railroad infrastructure was damaged.

The rescuers were killed by a second Russia strike when they arrived at the site of a fire from an initial attack. The other two victims were workers at the industrial facility.

The Russians also attacked a residential district in the Brovarsky district of the Kyiv region, injuring two people and setting afire an industrial facility.

Ukraine’s Air Force said waves of drones were detected between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. across at least ten regions.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine launched a large-scale missile and drone attacks on multiple Russian regions overnight, reportedly striking important sites supporting Moscow’s 50 1/2-month full-scale invasion.

Videos and photos posted by residents on social media showed a large fire at JSC VNIIR-Progress in the Chuvash Republic, east of Moscow and 1,200 km (745 miles) from the Ukraine border. The Russian State facility produces components for high-precision weapons, and develops electronic warfare systems.

Russian channels on Telegram reported that a Ukrainian-made FP-5 Flamingo missile struck the complex. Ukrainian drones later attacked around 7:30 a.m.

This morning Ukraine reportedly attacked the Kirishi oil complex, one of Russia’s three leading refineries by volume.

Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed the targeting of the refinery. NASA’s fire monitoring system observed multiple blazes in the area.

Kirishi has an annual processing capacity of around 20 to 21 million tons of crude oil. It produces more than 6% of Russia’s refined oil, as well as a wide range of petroleum products and fuel supporting the military.

At least 18 Russian airports temporarily halted operations amid air raid alerts up to 2,000 km (1250 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

Zelensky Declares 24-Hour Ceasefire

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a unilateral ceasefire beginning at the start of Wednesday, ahead of Russia’s proposal for a temporary truce on Friday and Saturday.

Zelensky said Ukraine had still received “no official appeal” from Moscow for its truce on Victory Day, marking Russia’s victory over Germany in World War II.

“We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration’,” the President posted.

He said Ukraine’s unilateral ceasefire would test if a pause in the invasion can take hold:

We will act reciprocally starting from that moment.

It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.