© picture alliance / ROPI | POU
Ukrainian drones have struck the Russian oil refinery in Omsk, deep in Siberia. Never before in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has Ukraine launched an attack so deep into Russian territory. Russian officials confirmed the attack, stated that most of the drones had been intercepted, and reported that there were no casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a significant achievement and said that Ukrainian precision strikes can now reach Siberia. Ukraine also reported that it had attacked Russian oil export facilities in Ust-Luga and Vysotsk, as well as locations in the Kaluga and Yaroslavl regions.
The attack points to a strategy that Zelensky also discussed in an interview with the Financial Times. The president shared some statements from that interview on his social media channels.
“The war continues, but the front line is no longer shifting. When the front line barely moves and the enemy cannot advance by sea, only the air remains. Today, the battle is for the air. This is a shift in the priorities of this war. We are shifting our focus to the air. And in the air, we are already competitive,” Zelensky said.
“When our deep strikes hadn’t yet reached Moscow and St. Petersburg, Putin wasn’t very concerned about them. He understood that the war was taking place far from the Kremlin. But as soon as he feels what’s happening in Moscow, he will, of course, begin to understand what’s happening in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions. Then he will begin to grasp the reality of the situation,” Zelensky told the British business newspaper.
“When not a hundred, but a thousand drones start reaching Moscow, and when he feels and sees that, he will be advised to retreat somewhere beyond the Urals. That will be the moment when a new chapter opens on the path to ending the war. The farther Putin is from Moscow, the closer the end of the war and peace will be. He fears for his life.”
Zelensky also noted that Ukraine carries out the “difficult and constant” work every day to launch attacks on Moscow and St. Petersburg, “where the elite live” and which are the places “where the decisions to kill us are made.”
Picture: © picture alliance / ROPI | POU