Ukraine Says It Has Knocked Out More Than Half of Russia's Oil Refineries

Ukraine says its long-range missile and drone strikes have disabled more than half of Russia's oil refining capacity. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry made this claim on Sunday, saying strikes on refineries in several Russian cities had knocked out 51% of Russia's ability to process oil. Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said experts from Ukraine's military and intelligence services studied the damage carefully. He said the strikes are hurting Russia's economy and its ability to keep fighting. The claim has not been confirmed by outside sources.

Russia has not shared official numbers on how badly its oil facilities have been damaged. However, President Vladimir Putin admitted on October 1 that the strikes had cost Russia about 1% of its gross domestic product — a measure of a country's total economic output. 'They started attacking oil refineries and openly declared the goal of damaging our economy. Did they achieve their goal? Partially,' Putin said at an international forum. This was a rare moment where Putin acknowledged the real impact of Ukraine's strategy.

Ukraine has launched repeated attacks on oil refineries across Russia, from cities near Moscow all the way to Siberia. These attacks caused a serious fuel shortage in Russia earlier this year, and Russian authorities were forced to limit how much gasoline people could buy. Some of Russia's 32 refineries have been hit as many as 15 times since the war started. The International Energy Agency says one refinery has been hit about every three days in recent months. Russia has responded by lowering fuel quality standards and canceling routine maintenance to keep fuel flowing.

While Ukraine attacks Russia's oil industry, Russia has kept up its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities. On Monday, a Russian guided bomb hit a residential building in the city of Kharkiv, killing at least three people and wounding 39 others, including three children. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said rescue workers were searching the rubble for more survivors. A separate Russian drone attack on Kharkiv the night before killed one more person and set vehicles and a building on fire. Another person was killed in a Russian attack on the Sloviansk community in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 205 drones overnight into Monday, and 172 of them were shot down or disabled. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian drone attack also set fire to a commercial ship in the Black Sea, which later sank. The ship was owned by Turkey and was carrying corn. Romanian authorities said two people died in the attack and 11 crew members were rescued. Zelensky called it 'a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel' in neutral waters.

Ukraine has also found a new way to fight back against Russia's fast-moving drones. A presidential adviser said 12 automated gun turrets powered by artificial intelligence have been set up in Kyiv. Ukraine's air force confirmed that these AI-controlled machine guns successfully shot down Russian drones — including the Geran-5 — for the first time. Air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat explained that the guns use machine vision, meaning the AI can 'see' and track targets on its own without a human pulling the trigger.

In another development, a border crossing between Moldova and Ukraine was temporarily shut down after a Russian attack. A shell landed near the Palanca-Mayaky-Udobne checkpoint, bounced off the ground, and struck a parked passenger bus. One border employee was slightly injured, and the bus and a checkpoint booth were damaged. Moldovan border police told travelers to stay away from the area until it was safe.