Kyiv strikes a refinery in southern Russia. Zelensky: ‘US Patriots on their way’
The Ukrainians have also struck a fuel depot in the city of Azov
Ukrainian forces continue to launch attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, striking targets in various regions. According to reports from Russian media channels on Telegram, the Ukrainian army struck the Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia overnight. Photos and videos posted on social media by local residents show huge flames billowing from the refinery. Located some 500 kilometres from Ukrainian-controlled territory in the Krasnodar region, the refinery is one of the largest in southern Russia and produces nearly 6.6 million tonnes of fuel a year. This is the seventeenth Ukrainian attack to have struck a Russian refinery. The last one before this took place on 2 June.
Another Ukrainian drone attack has caused a fire in the Russian port of Taganrog and another at two fuel depots in the city of Azov. This was reported by the governor of the Rostov region, Yuri Sliusar. “In Azov, a drone attack caused a fire at two petroleum product storage facilities,” Sliusar wrote on the social media platform Max. The governor also stated that in the city of Taganrog, “firefighters are battling a blaze in the seaport area”. According to preliminary reports, there are no casualties.
In total, Moscow’s air defences intercepted and destroyed 376 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov last night. This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defence.
In the wake of the NATO summit in Ankara, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that “in the coming days we will receive a consignment of Patriot missiles from the United States. We have also reached separate agreements with the Europeans’. The Ukrainian president commented in particular on the agreement with US President Donald Trump regarding the granting of licences to manufacture the Patriots in Ukraine. “It is now very important that our technical teams, all our representatives from the various ministries and the executive branch, begin working tirelessly to ensure we receive the licences as soon as possible and start production in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
The EU-27 give the go-ahead for the opening of a new EU accession track for Ukraine
Meanwhile, the ambassadors of the 27 Member States have agreed to take the EU accession process for Ukraine and Moldova forward by opening cluster 6 on external relations, and to provisionally close both negotiation chapters 25 (science and research), 26 (education and culture) and 30 (external relations) for Albania; and negotiation chapters 8 (competition policy) and 29 (customs union) for Montenegro.
