Russia launched ballistic missiles and attack drones against Ukraine’s capital overnight, killing at least nine people, while Kyiv’s forces struck oil facilities deep inside Russia territory.
Local authorities confirmed a fire at an industrial site in Ufa in the Bashkortostan Republic, without specifying what had been damaged. Ufa is home to Bashneft’s refining complex, which includes three oil refineries.
“These refineries process millions of tons of oil each year,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X. “Our targets are consistently defined facilities that sustain the war effort.”
Photo: EPA
Ukraine previously struck the Ufa oil refinery in April, June and last year, as it pushes the limits of its drone strikes deeper into Russia.
Ukrainian forces also struck a sanctioned Russian container ship, the Yanina, in the Black Sea overnight, Zelenskiy added.
Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned atomic energy company, said the vessel was owned by its subsidiary FESCO and was “an ordinary civilian container ship sailing in international waters.”
All crew members were evacuated successfully.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian officials urged the supply of more anti-missile weapons from allies after being slammed by dozens of missiles and drones.
“A horrific night for Kyiv,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. “The enemy struck the capital with ballistic missiles. Residential buildings, non-residential buildings and other infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, and fires broke out in five districts of the city.”
Kremlin forces deployed air and ground-launched missiles of various types, Ukraine’s General Forces said, adding that 358 aerial attack weapons — 35 missiles and 185 uncrewed aerial vehicles various types — were detected.
Of about 27 Iskander-type ballistic missiles, only one was intercepted, “simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot systems,” Zelenskiy said.
The missiles struck 18 residential buildings, a school, and unspecified “infrastructure facilities” in the capital, Zelenskiy said.
The Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions were also targeted.
Taiwan has suspended visa processing for Moroccans in response to Morocco halting visa applications for Taiwanese travelers worldwide, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The Moroccan embassy in Japan on Thursday last week informed Taiwanese travel agencies that it would suspend its visa confirmation letter application service for Taiwanese seeking to travel to Morocco, the ministry said in a statement. Taiwanese are required to obtain the letter before traveling to Morocco, the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site says. Applications are submitted through the Moroccan embassy in Japan, which forwards them to Morocco for review. Once approved, the authorization
SIDE-BY-SIDE: The US appreciates Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and safety, and supports its strong contributions to global maritime law enforcement, the AIT said The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday for the first time shared a photograph of Taiwanese and US coast guard vessels operating side-by-side, saying that the two sides conducted joint operations ranging from search-and-rescue to maritime law enforcement. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and the US Coast Guard are “coordinating shared objectives such as search and rescue, preparing for tropical storms, disaster relief, preserving maritime resources, countering illegal fishing, and interdicting illegal drug shipments at sea,” the AIT said on Facebook. “The US appreciates Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and safety, and supports Taiwan’s meaningful contributions on global issues including maritime law
TARGETS: Taiwan has consistently planned for all possible scenarios involving Chinese action against the country and developed contingency measures, a major general said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it is monitoring the construction of full-scale replicas of military and government sites in Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA). The comments from ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) come after a report by the Telegraph on satellite imagery showing replicas of Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building, Suao Naval Base and other sites. Citing satellite imagery and defense analysts, the report, published on Sunday, said that the PLA had built life-size replicas of key government facilities to rehearse military operations under realistic conditions. The report described the scale and specificity of the training
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it has temporarily suspended spot market purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Papua New Guinea (PNG) after the country’s foreign minister earlier this month unilaterally announced that Taiwan’s representative office there would be closed. PNG Minister of Foreign Affairs Justin Tkatchenko on July 16 said that his government had decided to close Taiwan’s representative office in Port Moresby. The cessation of operations and the formal closure of the physical presence of Taiwan’s representative office was an “administrative action” to “reaffirm Papua New Guinea’s one China policy,” a statement posted on Tkatchenko’s Facebook page
RSS