Moscow/Kyiv, June 16 (SANA) The Russia-Ukraine war entered a new phase of escalation on Tuesday, with Ukraine striking a major oil refinery in Moscow and Russia claiming new advances in Donetsk, as political calls to end the conflict resurfaced on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France.
Ukraine strikes Moscow oil refinery
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck the Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district using long-range weapons, according to a post on his Telegram channel cited by multiple news agencies. Zelenskyy described the operation as a “just response to Russian strikes and the dragging out of a war that must be ended.”
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel that 25 drones were destroyed over the city and that one damaged a facility at the refinery, with no casualties reported, according to Russian state media. The refinery supplies more than a third of Moscow’s fuel needs, according to industry sources cited by Reuters.
A separate drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region, forcing authorities to close a local road linking the area to Crimea, Russian officials said, according to Interfax. Firefighting crews also continued operations at another fuel depot in the Yaroslavl region, local authorities reported.
Russia claims new advances in Donetsk
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the capture of the town of Novy Donbas in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and continued advances in the Krasny Lyman and Konstantinovka axes, according to a ministry statement carried by TASS and RT.
Russian forces also struck energy and transport facilities and storage centers for long-range drones, the ministry said, adding that air defense systems intercepted 172 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Trump renews push for peace talks
US President Donald Trump called on Russia and Ukraine to reach an agreement to end the war, saying he would do everything in his power to advance a settlement, according to AFP, which cited Trump’s comments to reporters following his meeting with Zelenskyy.
Trump’s comments came after meeting Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian, France, where he noted that the heavy human losses on both sides demanded a swift end to the conflict, according to a pool report cited by Reuters and the BBC. “They’re both open to it,” Trump said of Putin and Zelenskyy. “Maybe we can do something.”
Zelenskyy said he had proposed a meeting with Putin at the G7, but that Moscow was “not ready” for it, he told reporters in France, according to AFP. He also suggested to Trump that Putin could be invited to meet in the United States, making it “harder for Putin to refuse.”
A war of attrition widens
The developments come as the war, now in its fifth year, increasingly becomes a long-term conflict of attrition relying heavily on drones and long-range missiles targeting critical infrastructure, analysts cited by Reuters and the BBC said. With Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure intensifying and Russian forces continuing their advance on some fronts, prospects for a rapid military resolution appear distant, renewing focus on a political settlement.
KhA
