Frank Rondel
Ukraine’s armed forces carried out a missile strike on the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia on Thursday using British Storm Shadow missiles, customreceipt.com reports with reference to the Guardian. The Ukrainian military confirmed that the attack caused “numerous explosions” at the site, which is one of the main suppliers of petrol products in southern Russia and directly supports the Russian armed forces with diesel and aviation fuel.
The strike marks another use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles by Ukraine against targets inside Russian territory. The refinery, according to Ukrainian officials, plays a strategic role in Russia’s military logistics due to its large-scale storage and production capacity.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that he held “very good” talks with former US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, regarding potential ways to end the war. Zelenskyy stated that discussions included new ideas, meeting formats, and timelines aimed at moving toward peace, following reports that Ukraine had achieved limited concessions in a revised US-led draft peace plan under review by Moscow.
In Russia, a court sentenced pro-war activist and Putin critic Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front movement affiliated with the Communist Party, to six years in prison for justifying terrorism. The charges stem from an article supporting activists accused of forming a terrorist organization. Udaltsov has denied the charges and announced a hunger strike, calling the verdict “shameful,” according to the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona.
The Kremlin is also reportedly in contact with French authorities regarding the fate of French political scholar Laurent Vinatier, imprisoned in Russia and facing new espionage charges. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia had made an “offer” to France, and the matter is now awaiting a response. French President Emmanuel Macron and government services are closely monitoring the situation and providing consular support.
In Mariupol, the Drama Theatre, destroyed in a 2022 Russian airstrike while civilians were sheltering, is scheduled to reopen after two years of reconstruction. Russian occupation authorities promote the reopening as a symbol of renewal, staging a performance of the Russian fairytale The Scarlet Flower. Former actors and local critics denounce the reopening as “dancing on bones,” highlighting property seizures, arrests, and exiles accompanying Moscow’s control over the city.
Earlier we wrote that Italians celebrate first baby in Pagliara dei Marsi in nearly 30 years.