In a significant military action, Kyiv's forces have employed British-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike a major Russian oil refinery. The attack was carried out Thursday, as stated by the Ukrainian military command.
The targeted facility, the Novoshakhtinsk oil plant, was said to be hit, with multiple blasts observed at the location. This represents not the first instance where Ukraine has deployed these advanced British-supplied missiles against targets on Russian territory.
Military spokespersons emphasized that the Novoshakhtinsk facility serves as one of the primary providers of fuel products in Russia's south and is actively engaged in supplying the armed forces of the Russian Federation.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday that he held productive talks with envoys of ex-President Donald Trump, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The conversation centered on potential pathways to bring the conflict to a close.
“It was a very productive conversation: many details, good ideas, that we discussed,” Zelenskyy wrote on a messaging platform. “There are some fresh concepts on how to move toward a genuine peace closer, and it concerns approaches, meetings, and, of course, the timeline.”
In a parallel internal matter, a court in Russia has found guilty a activist and critic of Vladimir Putin on charges of supporting terrorist activities. Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front movement, was given to six years in a penal colony.
This case reportedly stem from an online post Udaltsov published in support of another group of activists accused of forming a terrorist organisation. Udaltsov has denied the charges as fabricated and, following the verdict, reportedly announced to go on a hunger strike in defiance.
The Kremlin indicated it is engaged with French officials concerning the fate of Laurent Vinatier, a French political scholar serving a prison term in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage.
An official said that Russia has presented a proposal to France in the case of Vinatier, and now “the ball is in France’s court.” French President Emmanuel Macron’s office stated he is closely following the situation, with all government services mobilised to offer assistance and advocate for his release at the earliest opportunity.
A theatre in Mariupol, which was destroyed in a devastating bombardment while hundreds of civilians were sheltering in its cellar, is set to reopen. Authorities in control have heralded the reconstruction as a symbol of recovery.
However, former actors from the theatre have called the planned opening as “a macabre spectacle.” The reconstruction is part of a wider Moscow effort to present its administration in seized territories, a process accompanied by the arrest or exile of dissenting voices and property seizures from Ukrainian citizens.
The theatre is expected to open by the month's end with a performance of a Russian fairytale, having been rebuilt almost from scratch over the last 24 months.
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