(KYIV) – Ukrainian forces have reportedly struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara Oblast, according to verified footage and local reports. The overnight drone attack caused a significant fire at the facility, with at least four or five drones appearing to hit their targets. The refinery has been struck multiple times previously, including on 8th August, 4th August, 12th July, 21st May, 18th April, and twice last December.
The operation is part of a sustained Ukrainian campaign against Russian energy infrastructure. In the past week, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly targeted the city of Taganrog, west of Rostov-on-Don, causing fires at a fuel depot near an airfield. Satellite data confirms the strikes, with fires reportedly burning for several days. Similarly, the Slavyansk oil refinery in the Kuban region remains ablaze after a strike several days ago, with Russian firefighting crews unable to extinguish the flames.
The strikes have exacerbated a growing fuel crisis in Russia. Local news reports from Krasnodar indicate that petrol prices have soared, with one journalist noting that 83 rubles (approximately $0.90 or £0.70) per litre is considered “a steal,” while prices in major cities are significantly higher. The shortage has led to scenes of Russian women crying in their cars after filling up with substandard fuel that destroys modern engines.
Further Ukrainian strikes have targeted Russian military and industrial sites. Satellite imagery confirms a Flamingo cruise missile completely destroyed a section of a petrochemical plant in Volgograd, collapsing a six or seven storey structure. In the Samara region, a chemical plant was struck on 12th September, damaging multiple workshops. High-resolution images of an ozone distribution centre in Saratov, struck on 11th September, show the facility has been completely destroyed.
In a significant blow to Russian command, Lieutenant General Sergey Milchov, commander of the 51st Combined Arms Army, was reportedly killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on his headquarters in the occupied Donetsk region. Russian military bloggers have confirmed the strike, with one noting that the “enemy was targeting accurately,” suggesting a leak from within Russian ranks. Major General Anton Grunis, commander of the 4th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, is also reported killed, though this remains unconfirmed.
On the front lines, the commander of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps has confirmed a successful offensive operation near Lyman, codenamed “Vivaldi.” The operation, ongoing for several months, has seen Ukrainian forces liberate the village of Serebrianka in the Donetsk region and clear a significant area of Russian infiltrators. The commander stated that Russian forces have lost one and a half thousand servicemen, 12,000 drones, and hundreds of armoured vehicles and artillery systems. The offensive aims to push Russian forces back across the Chornyi Zherebets River.
Ukraine’s deep strike campaign has also crippled Russian logistics. Ukrainian forces are destroying 20 to 30 long-haul vehicles daily, despite the Kremlin offering drivers the equivalent of over $3,000 US (approximately £2,350) to run the gauntlet from Rostov-on-Don to Crimea. In the port city of Novorossiysk, hundreds of damaged or destroyed shadow fleet tankers are accumulating, with nowhere to go as they cannot leave the Black Sea.
Russia has continued its nightly drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Two gas stations in Kyiv were hit this morning, killing one person and wounding eight others. A large pharmaceutical distribution warehouse in Odesa was also destroyed. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has successfully tested a new interceptor drone against Russia’s jet-powered Geran drones, a significant step in countering the evolving threat. A Russian drone also struck a passenger train near the Polish border, an act Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski described as an escalation, noting that a former CIA director was on board.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to halt strikes on energy targets. He blamed the war for rising global diesel prices, a claim contradicted by data showing prices rose sharply only after the US attacked Iran. President Zelenskyy has stated Ukraine would accept an energy truce only if the West guarantees Moscow will not break it after upcoming US midterm elections.
A report by ProPublica has revealed that Umar Kremlev, a sanctioned Russian oligarch and part of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, helped pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas. The payments came from an entity affiliated with the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is financed by Russian state energy giant Gazprom. Kremlev is also linked to an organisation under Ukrainian sanctions for the alleged abduction of Ukrainian children.
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