Kyiv, June 9:
Ukraine and Russia intensified their drone war on Monday, with Ukrainian forces targeting major Russian energy infrastructure while Moscow launched hundreds of drones at Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck the Grushovaya oil transshipment base near Novorossiysk in Russia’s Krasnodar region, one of southern Russia’s largest oil and petroleum hubs.
Russian authorities confirmed a fire at the facility but reported no casualties. Ukraine also targeted the Krasny Yar production and dispatching station in the Volgograd region, where another fire broke out.
Additional strikes hit fuel storage facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea, including the Semykolodezkaya oil base and an oil depot near Feodosia. Ukrainian officials said the sites were used to supply Russian military operations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged fuel supply problems in Crimea and said measures were being taken to address them.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian businessman Roman Abramovich had acted as an intermediary between Kyiv and Moscow.
Zelenskyy said Abramovich delivered a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin seeking to understand Ukraine’s position and offering to carry a response back.
Zelenskyy said he was willing to meet Putin anywhere except Russia or Belarus but reiterated that Ukraine would not give up the occupied Donbas region.
The European Union also signaled further pressure on Moscow. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said a proposed sanctions package includes 80 new listings targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex, human rights violators and propagandists.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 310 Ukrainian drones overnight, while Ukraine reported that Russia launched 155 drones, 124 of which were shot down or suppressed.
Civilian areas were also affected. Russian strikes injured residents in several Ukrainian regions, while a Ukrainian drone attack on a passenger train in Crimea killed an assistant driver and injured the driver, disrupting rail services.