Zelensky says Ukraine hit two Russian oil sites, base

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday, October 7, that Ukrainian forces had hit four targets in the past 24 hours. He listed two oil facilities and a military training ground in Russia's Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions, plus a fourth target in the Black Sea. He described the strikes as retaliation, and they came on the same day Russia carried out one of its biggest air attacks on Ukraine in months.bbc+3

"Ukraine's just responses to all Russian strikes against our people. Over the past day, our warriors struck four targets that help Russia finance and wage its brutal war," Zelensky wrote on X. He did not say which facilities were hit or how much damage was done.x+2

Strikes follow a deadly Russian barrage

Zelensky's announcement came after Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least 15 people, according to the BBC. The Washington Times put the death toll at at least 19. Zelensky said on Telegram that Russia had fired 70 missiles in total, many of them ballistic. "This was one of the most vile strikes," he wrote, adding: "One of the key targets was our energy infrastructure". Ukraine's energy ministry said it had started partial emergency power cuts in five regions.staradvertiser+2

Russia's defense ministry said it had carried out a "massive strike" on military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and other regions. It also said its air defenses had destroyed or intercepted 311 Ukrainian drones overnight into October 7. In a Reuters interview, Zelensky said Ukraine would keep hitting Russia's energy assets in response to Moscow's escalating strikes on civilian infrastructure. According to the BBC, Moscow had earlier said it would step up attacks on Ukraine's energy sector in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy sites.bbc+2

Rising tension at sea

Zelensky did not describe the Black Sea target. On Tuesday evening, video showed a large cloud of smoke around an oil tanker near Sochi, on Russia's Black Sea coast. Russia's transport ministry said unmanned vessels had attacked the ship and that its crew had been rescued.prm+1

Separately, drones hit two ships about 80 miles off the Bulgarian coast. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank and its crew was declared missing, while a fire broke out on the Palau-flagged cargo ship Able. The Able's 18 sailors abandoned ship and were picked up by a Bulgarian ferry, and two of them were injured. Zelensky denied that Ukraine was involved and blamed Russia. On Wednesday he presented Ukraine's own strike in the Black Sea as a "response".bbc+1