Ukraine to Boost Oil Refinery Strikes as Russia Targets Cities

Kyiv will ramp up strikes on Russian oil refineries in direct response to Moscow’s new winter bombing campaign, which aims to force civilians out of major Ukrainian urban centers. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the intelligence service obtained documents proving Vladimir Putin authorized broader attacks on civilian infrastructure.

The winter strategy marks a distinct shift in Moscow’s operational planning. Russian forces hit apartment blocks, supermarket warehouses, gas stations, datacentres, and civilian transport arteries. Saturday’s strikes killed at least six people and damaged Kyiv’s Northern Bridge, disrupting traffic for a third day.

“We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure, logistics, and especially to attack in the cities, in the villages, everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals,” Zelenskyy told Reuters. “To pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities: this is the goal of the operation.”

Retaliation Against Russian Energy Facilities

Faced with deliberate attempts to paralyze heating and power systems ahead of winter, Kyiv intends to strike back where the Russian state derives its fiscal lifeline. The upcoming counter-campaign will deliberately bypass civilian targets in favor of economic choke points.

“We have to respond in any way [we can]. With their attacks on our energy, we have to respond on their energy. First of all, oil refiners: what gives money to them for this war,” Zelenskyy said. “But we will not respond, of course … on any civilian objects.”

These aerial retaliations unfold alongside a grinding territorial contest. Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive, dubbed Vivaldi, has successfully recaptured approximately 140 square kilometers (54 square miles) in the eastern Donbas region. This tactical advance complicates Moscow’s political objective to secure complete control over the Donbas before agreeing to any peace deal.

Air Defense Bottlenecks and Domestic Missiles

Defending urban centers against continuous drone and missile barrages strains the Ukrainian military’s depleted interceptor reserves. Fighter aircraft, including F-16s and MiGs, currently neutralize about 60% of incoming Russian jet-powered drones, but ammunition supplies for these jets remain low.

To bridge the gap, Kyiv is scaling up electronic jamming capabilities. Deliveries of a new shipment of small, inexpensive air defense missiles tailored for intercepting jet-powered Shahed drones are scheduled to arrive in the second half of October. Concurrently, domestic production has yielded the FP-7 ballistic missile, boasting a range of approximately 250 kilometers (155 miles), with a longer-range model, the FP-9, targeted for autumn deployment.

Resource / System	Capability / Status	Operational Objective
FP-7 Ballistic Missile	Approx. 250km (155 miles) range	Domestic strike capacity
Vivaldi Counteroffensive	140 sq km (54 sq miles) recaptured	Contest Donbas control
Small Air Defense Missiles	Scheduled for late October delivery	Intercept jet-powered Shahed drones

Diplomatic Solidary and Baltic Political Shifts

Merz emphasized the urgency of allied material backing as Russian bombardment targets residential heating plants.

“I travelled to Kyiv today because Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks,” Merz said, noting that if Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us. “You can continue to count on our help.”

Meanwhile, electoral outcomes across the Baltic region reflect heightened security anxieties. Exit polls from Latvia’s parliamentary election indicate that Andris Kulbergs’s centrist, pro-Ukraine United List party leads with 36.5% of the vote after 72% of ballots were counted. Kulbergs campaigned heavily on maintaining defense spending at 5% of gross domestic product—among the highest levels in NATO—and promised strict non-cooperation with pro-Russian factions.

“Our strong position is that any economic ties with Russia makes us weak; Russia would exploit this,” Kulbergs told journalists. Populist alternatives, such as Latvia First, secured 13.0% amid voter concerns over the cost of living and regional security pressures.

More on this story: Ukrainian Drones Hit Russian Oil Refinery in Volgograd Amid Overnight Attacks · Volodymyr Zelenskyj announces intensification of strikes on Russian refineries