VOW OF FIRE: Ukraine Pledges To Destroy Every Russian Refinery
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Ukraine is making its boldest statement yet on its oil refinery campaign, vowing to destroy Russian refineries entirely to make sure none of that fuel ever reaches the United States. The declaration comes with dramatic footage showing massive explosions and thick black smoke billowing from a Russian oil storage facility, large fuel tanks visibly engulfed. It's the latest escalation in a drone campaign that has already crippled more than half of Russia's refining capacity, grinding down one of the Kremlin's most important sources of war funding. A senior Ukrainian official recently told the Financial Times that the strikes will continue no matter what, even after President Trump brokered a diesel supply arrangement directly with Putin.
The numbers tell the story of just how effective this campaign has become. Ukrainian strikes have pushed Russian refinery operations down to around 60 percent capacity, a dramatic drop that's rippling far beyond the battlefield and into gas stations and diesel markets worldwide. Trump has repeatedly pressed Ukraine to ease off the refineries, blaming the attacks for surging global diesel prices and pressuring Zelenskyy directly in phone calls to pull back. But Kyiv has held firm, arguing that crippling Russia's ability to fund its war machine matters more than any diplomatic discomfort the strikes might cause, and officials say there's no sign of that strategy changing anytime soon.