Ukraine Torches Two Russian Oil Refineries as Zelenskyy Heads to Meet Trump

Ukraine struck the Kuibyshev refinery in Samara overnight, hitting both of its main distillation units, the AVT-4 and AVT-5, according to reports [247299]. Distillation units separate crude oil into products like gasoline and diesel. Both units were burning by morning, and smoke covered the region [247299]. The plant had only recently restarted after a previous Ukrainian attack in June shut it down [247299].

The same wave of strikes also damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery, a major fuel supplier for Moscow and the surrounding region [246197]. Moscow's mayor said the attack involved one of the largest drone attacks of the war so far [245894]. The strikes came as Russia held its State Duma elections [246197].

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes hit valuable targets in the Moscow region. "Russia's war machine is powered by billions of dollars in oil money. Our long-range strikes hit it hard last night," Zelensky wrote on Telegram [245894].

The attacks killed at least two people in Moscow, and the oil refinery caught fire [246332]. In the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region, Russian authorities said two people were killed, while in Ukraine, a mother and two children were killed in an attack on the town of Hlevakha, outside Kyiv, according to Ukrainian authorities [245894].

Russia said it will "intensify" attacks on Kyiv after Moscow was hit by the mass drone strikes, which came on the last day of Russia's parliamentary elections [246332]. Pro-war bloggers turned their anger on the Kremlin, and Russia left its air raid sirens off during the heaviest raid on its cities in years [247311].

The fighting continued on Tuesday as Russia and Ukraine traded deadly strikes, targeting economic infrastructure on both sides. The Russian army hit Ukrainian economic sites, while Ukraine struck an oil refinery inside Russia [247343]. The attacks come as Zelenskyy travels to the United Nations General Assembly, where he is due to meet Trump on the sidelines of the gathering [247343].