Ukraine Strikes Russian Oil Refineries and Border Supply Lines as Russia Launches Massive Missile and Drone Barrage on Ukrainian Cities, Killing 23

Ukrainian forces struck the city of St Petersburg as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived for an economic forum, hitting an oil terminal and heavily damaging the corvette Boykyi berthed there. On May 30, Ukraine destroyed a ballistic missile launcher and two Tupolev-142 long-range strategic bombers at the Taganrog airbase on the Sea of Azov.

On Sunday, it hit the Saratov and Rostov oil refineries.

On Tuesday, it struck the Ilsky refinery and the Novoshakhtinsky refinery. On May 31, Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps said it had established fire control over the cities of Luhansk, Starobilsk, Alchevsk, Bryanka, and Kadiivka, all 50 to 90 kilometres inside occupied Luhansk, and could strike armoured vehicles and ammunition depots at the Russian border 205 kilometres away.

It was the first time Ukraine declared such interdiction power over the eastern region.

Russian military reporters confirmed Ukraine’s ability to strike queues of Russian trucks at border checkpoints. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi said that on Saturday his forces struck the Tryokhizbenko training ground of the Russian 3rd Army in Luhansk, incurring at least 30 casualties.

Ukraine has sent a first-person view drone more than 100 kilometres into enemy territory and is using drones to remotely mine major supply roads in occupied Ukraine.

On June 2, Russia fired 656 drones and 73 missiles into Ukrainian civilian areas, killing 23 people and injuring at least 130. 6 percent of the cruise missiles but only 27 percent of the ballistic missiles, according to its Air Force. Serhiy Beskrestnov, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Russia keeps a strategic stockpile of 180-250 Iskander ballistic missiles.