Capitals, July 11 (SANA) Russia and Ukraine exchanged long-range strikes over the past 24 hours, with Russian attacks killing four people and wounding others in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, while Ukrainian forces targeted oil infrastructure deep inside Russia, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian officials said Kyiv came under a ballistic missile attack early Saturday, with powerful explosions heard across several districts of the capital.
Kyiv’s military administration said the Russian strikes damaged non-residential buildings and sparked fires at administrative facilities.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces carried out 105 airstrikes over the past 24 hours, dropping 291 guided bombs, launching 7,360 kamikaze drones and conducting 2,822 artillery strikes, including 106 using multiple-launch rocket systems.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian forces struck oil refineries, oil pumping stations and fuel depots inside Russia, as well as tankers in the Sea of Azov.
According to Reuters, the Ukrainian attacks triggered fires at the Ilsky oil refinery and the Ust-Luga energy complex, two major energy facilities in southern Russia.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the creation of a new military command tasked with conducting long-range strikes inside Russia, alongside rapid-response forces comprising assault units and drone operators.
In Washington, U.S. senators said they had reached an agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration to move forward with legislation aimed at expanding sanctions on Russia.
Reuters quoted Senators Richard Blumenthal, Lindsey Graham, Jeanne Shaheen and Roger Wicker as saying in a joint statement that Russia’s intensified attacks on civilians underscored the need to impose a heavy cost on buyers of Russian oil and gas, which they described as a key source of funding for Moscow’s military.
The proposed legislation, backed by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, would target countries that continue trading with Russia, including purchasers of Russian energy exports, amid what U.S. lawmakers said was Moscow’s failure to pursue a negotiated settlement with Ukraine.
The announcement followed a meeting between Trump and Zelensky in Ankara earlier this week, which officials described as positive.
Earlier this week, Trump said during the NATO summit in Ankara that the United States would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missiles, while the alliance pledged €140 billion ($160 billion) in assistance to Kyiv.
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