Latest Refinery Attack Demonstrates 'Zero Secure Locations in the Russian Deep Rear'
Ukraine's unmanned aerial vehicles have hit the Russian oil refinery in the city of Ufa, positioned approximately 1,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, triggering explosions and a inferno, per a source in the Ukrainian intelligence agency.
This marks the 3rd intelligence long-range attack in Bashkortostan in the recent weeks. Such strikes demonstrate that there are no protected areas in the deep rear of the Russia.
Zelenskyy Calls On US President to Broker Truce in the Conflict
The Ukrainian leader urged the US President to facilitate a truce in Ukraine during a telephone conversation on Saturday.
"If a war can be ended in a single area, then certainly other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war," the President stated, commending the US President's "remarkable" Middle East truce proposal and urging the US president to compel the Russian government into negotiations.
Russian Strikes Claim Lives in Ukraine
Strikes by Russia on Ukrainian territory killed at least five people on Saturday and disrupted electricity to sections of the southern Odesa area, per Ukrainian officials.
Two civilians lost their lives in a religious building in Kostyantynivka when it was hit, per municipal sources.
In Russia's adjacent territory of Belgorod, a vehicle operator was fatally wounded by a attack from Ukraine, per municipal sources.
Electricity Recovery Operations in the Capital
Efforts carried on on the weekend to restore power in Kyiv, after strikes by Moscow.
Energy had been restored to more than 800,000 inhabitants by Saturday and the largest private energy company announced the main operations to recover electricity was finished though partial blackouts continued.
Air Defence Operations and Drone Interceptions
The Ukrainian air defences intercepted or jammed 54 out of seventy-eight enemy drones sent towards Ukraine in the dark hours, the military announced on Saturday.
The Russian military authorities claimed it eliminated 42 enemy Ukrainian drones over the country's airspace.
Cuba Refutes Accusations of Deploying Troops to the War
Havana on Saturday rejected American assertions it has deployed troops to engage in the conflict in Ukraine, while stating officials in Havana "are without precise information about citizens of Cuba" engaged "voluntarily" or "within the troops of the conflicting parties".
The foreign ministry in the capital stated twenty-six nationals had been convicted to incarceration ranging from five to 14 years for mercenary activity since last September when reports spread of Cuban nationals being dispatched to the frontlines in the conflict.
Surrender Initiative Project Discloses Details on Cuban Recruitment
The surrender initiative, a Ukrainian government program that promotes adversaries to give up, said in May: "We have confirmed the identities and information of one thousand and twenty-eight Cuban nationals who signed contracts with the Russian military in 2023-2024."
The Cuban foreign ministry said of Cubans who might be involved: "There is no doubt that none of them has the encouragement, allegiance, or authorization of the government in Havana for their activities."
Family members of Cubans who traveled to the Russian Federation in the year told international media at the time that their loved ones had been tricked into joining through promotions on online platforms.