Ukraine has launched a massive drone assault on Russia across at least 13 regions during the night in a fiery celebration of the embattled country’s Independence Day from the Soviet Union.
The strike occurred as Donald Trump reportedly grows increasingly frustrated with Vladimir Putin for prolonging the conflict.
Reports emerged that the US has now committed to delivering 3,350 Extended Range Attack Missiles (ERAM) to Ukraine within six weeks under a new Trump administration initiative, primarily financed by other Western nations.
The night-time strikes on crucial Putin energy infrastructure and fresh US missile deliveries came after Trump informed Zelensky that Ukraine “has no chance of winning the war without striking Russia“.
One target hit as Ukraine today commemorated the 34th anniversary of its independence from Moscow was Russia‘s massive oil export port Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea coastline in Leningrad region, where flames and dense black smoke billowed.
“Debris from the drone caused a fire at the NOVATEK terminal,” stated regional governor Alexander Drozdenko.
“Firefighters and the Ministry of Emergency Situations are working to extinguish the fire.An inferno was reported at the petroleum processing and export terminal, critical for the Russian economy.
Other sources said Gazprom Ust-Luga gas processing complex in a drone swarm against Ust-Luga.The attacks caused tourist mayhem at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport as more than 99 flights were diverted or delayed at the busy hub.
Separately, at least 15 explosions thundered over the strategic Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region which was ablaze this morning – the latest key oil-producing facility to go up in smoke.
Prices are rising and there are queues at filling stations from occupied Crimea to the Far East of Russia.
Russia claimed a fire had ignited at Kursk Nuclear Power Plant after its air defences shot down an overflying Ukrainian drone.