Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Struck Russian Arms Plant, Refineries

Ukraine struck a weapons-components plant in the Russian city of Kirov — about 1,200 kilometers from the border — along with an oil refinery and other military sites overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s Defense Forces hit the Kirov plant, which he said supplies components for the weapons Russia uses in its attacks. He framed the operation as part of Ukraine’s continuing effort to answer Russian strikes with long-range ones of its own.

Ukrainian forces also hit an oil refinery in Tyumen, a logistics hub in Yekaterinburg, and a fuel and lubricants depot in Rostov-on-Don, the president said.

Strikes were also made into the Caspian Sea, Zelenskyy said. There, Ukraine targeted vessels used to transport military cargo with links to Iran, as well as a warship, he said.

The strikes came after a wave of Russian strikes the day before that Zelenskyy said killed six civilians across Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said a Russian attack on Slovyansk on Friday evening damaged more than 10 residential buildings and killed three people.

Two strikes hit Sumy. A Shahed drone killed three people there, Zelenskyy said, and an FPV drone followed with a second, “double-tap,” pass on a Nova Poshta facility.

A drone tore into a high-rise apartment building in Kharkiv. In Zaporizhzhia, a clothing market burned. The president said drone attacks pressed on in Kherson and reached the Poltava, Chernihiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Dnipro regions.

All told, Russia fired two missiles and close to 160 drones, Zelenskyy said. Ten people were reported injured nationwide.

Zelenskyy renewed his call for stronger air defenses, saying the issue must be a priority at every international meeting and that agreements with Ukraine’s partners need to be carried out faster.

Air defense must be a priority at every international meeting, and agreements with partners carried out faster. — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The account of both the strikes and the casualties comes from Zelenskyy’s own public statements.