Moscow/Kyiv, August 28 (HS): In a dramatic escalation early Thursday, Russia and Ukraine launched intense attacks on each other’s territories, unleashing devastation and casualties. Ukraine struck a strategic oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, setting it ablaze, while Russia targeted residential areas in Kyiv, killing at least 14 people.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff cited by Kyiv Post, Ukrainian forces conducted a series of precision strikes overnight on Russian strategic sites, including the Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar—a key supplier of fuel to the Russian military with an annual output exceeding 6 million tons. Earlier, explosions at the Kuibyshev refinery in Samara, with a processing capacity of nearly 7 million tons annually, also ignited a massive fire. Ukrainian forces additionally destroyed multiple ammunition depots and logistic hubs in Russian and temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
In retaliation, Russia launched ballistic cruise missiles, hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, and Iranian-made Shahed drones in a heavy bombardment on Kyiv’s residential districts. The assault sparked fires across the city, damaging infrastructure and killing at least 12 civilians, including three children, confirmed Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. A five-story building was reduced to rubble, and another apartment block was split in two, underscoring the severe impact on civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly condemned the attacks, sharing grim images of destruction on social media and accusing Russia of choosing missiles over diplomacy. Kyiv’s military chief Timur Tkachenko highlighted the targeting of residential neighborhoods as a brutal tactic, while European Council President Antonio Costa noted the damage to the European Union’s diplomatic mission in Kyiv.
This latest violence marks a stark intensification of hostilities amid ongoing diplomatic stagnation, with both sides exchanging heavy fire and mounting accusations as peace efforts falter.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
