The Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in southwest Russia
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UPDATE 0720 GMT:
Ukraine drones have attacked and set afire the Salavat refinery in Russia’s Bashkortostan, around 1,400 km (870 miles) from the border.
The Salavat refinery is the largest petrochemical facility of the Russian energy giant Gazprom. It has a processing capacity of 7.5 million tons of oil per year, around 2.7% of Russia’s total refining capacity.
Ukraine also attacked the facility on July 14, damaging two primary processing units and halting operations. Repairs were estimated to take from several weeks to several months.
UPDATE 0709 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 111 of 133 drones launched by Russia overnight, but other UAVs hit 15 locations.
No information was given about Russian missiles.
UPDATE 0644 GMT:
Moldova has agreed to give Ukraine a 50% discount on rail cargo shipments until the end of the year.
Kyiv asked for the reduction as it pursues an alternative route for grain shipments because of Russian attacks on ports and shipping in the Odesa region.
Russia struck the port area of Izmail on Wednesday night, setting a fire and causing damage and fire.
Izmail, close to the Romanian border, is the largest port on the Danube River.
UPDATE 0640 GMT:
Russia’s Orenburg region is the latest area to introduce fuel rationing amid Ukrainian strikes on refineries.
Ukraine hit the Orsk refinery in the Urals Mountains region this week.
Governor Yevgeny Solntsev He announced restrictions on gasoline sales, including a ban on filling up containers, limits on volume, and sales on odd or even days based on licence plate numbers.
More than 50 Russian and Russian-occupied regions have introduced some form of rationing this year.
UPDATE 0613 GMT:
In an interview with CNN, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine has only 1/10th of the interceptors needed to down ballistic missiles fired by Russia.
Zelensky said Ukraine has only 1% of the stock of US-made Patriot missiles. He assessed that Kyiv needs 5% to get through the winter as the Russians try to break energy infrastructure.
The President remarked, “We had two and a half times less interceptors than we had in 2025….Russia has two times more ballistic missiles per month than they had before.”
If they sell us 5%, we will go through the winter and save people’s lives. If they can sell us 10%, we will destroy all the Russians’ ballistic missiles. I have 1%.
He said of Ukraine’s civilians facing the Russian onslaught, “Each night you have attacks, and four or five times per month we have massive attacks…terrible nights. Very heroic, very resilient people really. But they [are] tired.”
The Trump Administration cut off deliveries of Patriots to Ukraine. NATO members could purchase them for transfer, but the US has depleted its stocks in its War on Iran.
Zelensky said doubts remain about Donald Trump retreated from his acceptance of US licenses for joint production of anti-ballistic missiles.
Trump made the pledge after a conversation with Zelensky last month at the NATO summit in Ankara. However, he pulled back in comments to reporters in the Oval Office.
Ukrainian officials are in discussion with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, the manufacturers of Patriots, about the initiative.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine has inflicted significant damage on Russia’s warships and grain terminals in Wednesday’s strikes on the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted that drones and missiles hit two frigates, Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov; a large landing ship; a corvette; and other vessels. He confirmed earlier reports of two grain terminals knocked out as well as strikes on “other Russian facilities that were helping finance the war”.
Novorossiysk is the last hub for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet as well as one of the largest ports in the country. As Ukraine has escalated attacks inside Russia, it has recurrently hit facilities and vessels.
The Black Sea Fleet moved its principal operations to Novorossiysk from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea in 2023 after Ukraine damaged up to 1/3 of the fleet and much of the infrastructure in attacks.
Vance Request for Halt in Ukraine’s Attacks
On July 31, US Vice President J.D. Vance asked Zelensky to suspend the strikes. Amid its failing War on Iran, the Trump camp worried that attacks were further destabilizing oil markets, targeting tankers carrying crude oil piped from Kazakhstan to a Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in Novorossiysk.
The Trump Administration was also concerned about the effect on US energy companies Chevron and ExxonMobil. Both have stakes in CPC, Kazakhstan’s main oil export route, and in the western Kazakh oilfields.
Ukraine’s attacks on the CPC terminal in July forced Kazakhstan to stop piping oil to Novorossiysk and more than doubled shipping rates and insurance. CPC loaded just 1.3mn barrels a day in July, down more than 300,000 b/d from June and 600,000 b/d from May.
Kyiv said it would refrain from attacks, provided ships were not under Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian oil or other Russian cargo.
