Ukraine Strikes Ufa Oil Refinery for Second Time in a Week as Drone Campaign Triggers Russian Summer Fuel Crisis

Ukrainian forces struck Russia's Ufa oil refinery for the second time in a week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X, describing the refinery as one of Russia's largest producers of lubricants and located more than 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine 12. Zelenskyy said the same day's strikes also hit a facility in Russia's Penza region tied to production of missile components, roughly 500 to 600 kilometers from the front 13. Kyiv Post and United24 Media reported the Ufa refinery lies more than 1,300 kilometers from the front line, citing Zelenskyy's figures; Kyiv Post, citing the OSINT monitoring channel Exilenova+, identified the Ufa target as the Bashneft refinery and the Penza target as the Scientific Research Institute of Physical Measurements (JSC NDIFI), a Roscosmos-linked facility producing sensors for aviation and missile systems 34. Russian officials did not confirm either strike; the Russian Defence Ministry instead reported intercepting 179 Ukrainian drones across 16 regions, Crimea, and the Azov and Black Sea, while Penza's governor said only that falling drone debris damaged a power line and a building under construction 1. Putin said two days earlier that Russia faced a "certain deficit" of fuel 1.