Russia suffers deadliest month as Kyiv hits missile plant and refinery targets

Strikes and power outages

Kyiv said Russian forces had suffered their deadliest month since the invasion began four years ago. Ukrainian forces also launched overnight strikes inside Russia, targeting a facility in the Rostov region that makes solid propellant and air-defence systems.

More than 100 Ukrainian drones struck Kstovo, east of Moscow. The industrial hub processes five per cent of Russia’s crude oil. Russia fired 433 drones at Ukraine in a concentrated overnight barrage, severing power lines across several regions. The attacks left 280,000 households without electricity or heating.

Casualty estimates and strain

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the bombardments appeared intended to exploit a shortage of ballistic missile interceptors. He warned that civilian infrastructure remained under severe strain. Ukraine’s general staff said each month of fighting was becoming more costly for Russia’s armed forces. Neither side regularly publishes verifiable figures for its own casualties, but current estimates put Russian losses above 1.5 million personnel since the conflict began in 2022.

Analysts warn that Russia could face strategic depletion if its manpower losses outpace recruitment. They say this may increase reliance on foreign munitions and destructive attacks rather than tactical gains.

Evacuations from Oleshky

In the south, residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky faced a worsening humanitarian crisis. The town lies on the Dnipro River’s eastern bank, where marshes and waterways have become an entrenched amphibious battleground.

After supply routes collapsed amid months of drone and artillery fire, a brief opening allowed hundreds of hungry and exhausted residents to leave in humanitarian convoys. An estimated 2,000 people had been pushed towards starvation, and evacuees were taken to both Ukrainian- and Russian-controlled areas.

Officials in nearby Kherson said on Saturday that Russian forces had used a quiet corridor to reposition weapons and personnel. They feared artillery fire across the river would resume after a six-day truce expired on Sunday evening.

Diplomacy in Ankara

The fighting and relief efforts coincided with talks in Ankara between Zelensky and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey aims to use its ties with Nato and Moscow to support possible trilateral talks.

Ankara has offered to host negotiations that could restore safe commercial transit, enable prisoner exchanges and establish a formal de-escalation framework. Erdogan reaffirmed Turkey’s support for Ukrainian sovereignty and warned that a prolonged war could destabilise the wider region.

Rubio said the conflict threatens global food and energy security. He argued that a battle of attrition cannot continue indefinitely and that Western military assistance should be paired with realistic objectives.