KYIV, Ukraine — American military aid continues flowing to Ukraine while Ukrainian forces persist in long-distance attacks against Russian energy facilities and manufacturing sites, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Thursday.
“Of course, we are hitting what is painful for Russia, and it is very painful,” Zelenskyy told reporters through voice messages. The Ukrainian leader claimed these attacks have inflicted damage worth tens of billions of dollars on Russia.
Independent confirmation of Zelenskyy’s statements wasn’t available, though Russian authorities have acknowledged strikes on infrastructure located over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) within Russian territory.
As Russia continues its comprehensive invasion that started February 24, 2022, Ukraine employs locally-produced drone and missile systems to target Russian locations. Ukrainian defense forces also utilize American-supplied Patriot defense systems to intercept Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian soil.
“We see that the Russians do not want to stop — they are hitting our energy sector and our people. We will respond,” Zelenskyy stated.
Prince Harry arrived in Kyiv Thursday for his third Ukrainian visit within twelve months, offering fresh support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s larger military force.
The Duke of Sussex praised Ukrainians for showing “strength not just in bravery and capability, but in unity, in trust,” during remarks at a Kyiv security conference.
Ukraine “continues to hold together, and hold together you must,” he told attendees.
Harry disembarked from a train at Kyiv’s central station following an overnight trip from Poland, currently the sole travel route to Ukraine’s capital city.
Whether Harry would meet with Zelenskyy remained uncertain, as the Ukrainian president was scheduled to participate in a European Union leaders’ summit in Cyprus Thursday evening.
Before Harry’s arrival, a Russian drone assault on Dnipro, a central Ukrainian city, killed three people and injured ten others, regional military administrator Oleksandr Hanzha reported.
The attack damaged a 13-story residential building and an administrative structure, Hanzha posted on Telegram.
Russian air defenses intercepted 154 Ukrainian drones across Russian territories, the occupied Crimea Peninsula, and the Sea of Azov and Black Sea regions, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced.
In Russia’s Krasnodar region along the Black Sea, 276 firefighters battled a massive fire for the third consecutive day at Tuapse port, sparked by a Ukrainian drone strike earlier this week.
Toxic substances from the blaze mixed with rainfall, coating multiple Tuapse districts with black residue, emergency officials reported. Chemical concentrations in the air exceeded safe limits, prompting authorities to recommend residents remain indoors.
Russia’s Samara region faced attacks for the second straight night. In Novokuybyshevsk, approximately 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) east of Ukraine’s border, a drone strike on an industrial target killed one person, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev confirmed.
Drone fragments also struck a residential building roof in Samara city, injuring several people and hospitalizing one individual, Fedorishchev added.
Unverified media accounts suggested a Rosneft-owned petrochemical facility in Novokuybyshevsk was targeted.
Ukrainian forces also attacked Russian oil infrastructure in Samara and struck a pipeline in Nizhegorodskaya region that carries oil from Western Siberia to Tatarstan, according to Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.
Ukrainian Security Service units targeted the Gorky oil pumping station in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow, a senior agency official revealed.
The overnight drone operation damaged three oil storage tanks and ignited a substantial fire, said the official, who requested anonymity due to lack of public authorization.
“The operation of main pipelines is disrupted, the efficiency of processing at refineries decreases, and transportation costs increase. As a result, this directly affects the revenues of the Russian budget, which are used to finance the war against Ukraine,” the official explained.
