Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on economic and logistics facilities in both countries, leaving people dead and wounded, as Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his criticism of NATO’s eastward expansion and said Moscow has no reason to conflict with Europe.
Ukraine says it struck Russian oil facilities
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s forces struck an oil-sector facility in Volgograd, along with targets in Dagestan, Udmurtia and the Tula, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Samara regions. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv’s overnight drone attacks killed two people in the Tula region and a third in the Kursk region.
Tula Governor Dmitry Milyayev confirmed that two people were killed and three others wounded, while the governor of Kursk said a 37-year-old man was killed in a drone attack. The strikes also hit e-commerce facilities in Russia. Ozon said a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at its logistics center in Saratov.
Recent attacks also targeted more than 20 warehouses belonging to the company and its main rival, Wildberries. Kyiv says the targeting of those sites is part of a campaign against economic infrastructure that helps support Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. In response, Russia attacked two fuel stations in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with jet-powered drones early on Friday, killing two people.
Putin links opposition to NATO to Moscow’s stance on Europe
Each side is seeking through these strikes to weaken the other’s military capabilities. On the political front, Putin said during a visit to India to attend a BRICS summit that Russia has no reason to conflict with Europe, linking his position to the outcome of World War II.
He accused European countries of pushing for changes that could lead their peoples into confrontation with Russia. Putin reiterated Moscow’s opposition to NATO’s eastward expansion in remarks to reporters on the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi.
He also said former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych opposed Ukraine joining the alliance, and repeated his accusation that Yanukovych was removed from power in what he described as a “bloody coup.”
