Ukraine has continued its long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, defying pressure from Donald Trump, who has publicly blamed the attacks for worsening a global diesel shortage and driving up fuel prices.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced overnight strikes on an oil facility in Russia's southern Samara region, a Russian vessel in the Black Sea, and a launch and storage site for attack drones in the Oryol region.
Trump has urged Zelenskyy in a private phone call to halt the refinery attacks. He has also repeatedly raised the issue in public. "Diesel is really hurt much more, not by the Middle East, but by what's going on in Russia, because those diesel refineries are being knocked out at a pretty alarming rate," Trump said on Wednesday.
Diesel prices in the United States have risen to record highs in recent weeks, adding to cost-of-living pressures that have pushed Trump's approval ratings to a career low ahead of next month's midterm elections.
Energy analysts, however, have pointed to the war in Iran and wider disruption to global oil markets as the leading drivers of the price increases. Ukraine's refinery campaign has nonetheless emerged as an additional factor tightening diesel supplies at a politically sensitive moment for the US president.
According to Ukrainian estimates, the campaign has knocked out more than 45% of Russia's refining capacity, prompting fuel rationing in some regions and long queues at petrol stations.
Russia, traditionally the world's second-largest diesel exporter, extended its ban on diesel exports until the end of October earlier this week, adding further pressure to the global supply crunch.
Mykola Bielieskov, a military analyst at Ukraine's government-run National Institute for Strategic Studies, said it was unlikely Kyiv would stop targeting Russian oil infrastructure while Moscow continued its daily attacks on Ukraine.
"There is no rationale for Ukraine to continue exercising restraint while it is being bombarded and major urban areas are under constant attack," he said. "We need to deprive Russia of revenue," he added.
Zelenskyy has been pushing for a US-brokered energy ceasefire with Russia, but President Vladimir Putin has shown little interest in the proposal, instead vowing to intensify strikes on Ukraine.
Russia has continued its missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, targeting energy infrastructure, commercial warehouses, and other businesses in what appears to be an effort to cripple the country's economy.
A Russian drone struck a school in Kyiv on Thursday morning. No one was injured because the children were sheltering in the basement, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko. A key bridge in the capital was also hit, forcing authorities to suspend metro services and other public transport.
Kyiv has experienced near round-the-clock Russian attacks in recent weeks, at times increasingly resembling a frontline city in what many describe as the most challenging period for the capital since the early days of the full-scale invasion.
Russia's newer jet-powered drones have proved particularly difficult for Ukrainian air defences to intercept, with success rates significantly lower than those recorded against the slower Shahed-type drones.
The sustained attacks have revived fears of another winter with prolonged power and heating outages, following similar strikes last year that left parts of Ukraine without electricity during temperatures that fell as low as -20C.
