Ukraine Claims Strike On Russia-Iran Military Route As Kyiv Mourns Dead
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on July 25 that Ukrainian forces had achieved “very good results” in strikes on Russian targets in the Caspian Sea, including vessels involved in transporting military cargo to Iran and a Russian warship.The announcement came one day after Moscow launched deadly attacks across Ukraine, including a ballistic missile strike near Kyiv that killed at least 10 people and left almost 100 injured.Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said the Caspian Sea operation included drone strikes on the Filanovsky offshore oil platform, operated by Russian oil company Lukoil.According to the SBU, two cargo vessels -- Port Olya 2 and Begey -- were also targeted. It said the ships had been used to transport military cargo between Russia and Iran.Neither Russia nor Iran has commented on the reported strikes, and Ukraine's claims have not been independently verified.
Describing the attacks as "long-range sanctions" in response to Russian strikes, Zelenskyy said Ukraine also targeted "an enterprise in Kirov" that supplies components for Russian weapons, "a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg," an oil refinery in Tyumen, and a fuel depot in Rostov-on-Don.Ukrainian media reported that the target in Yekaterinburg was a logistics warehouse belonging to Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries, which is allegedly used to support the country’s military logistics, a claim Moscow has denied.The attack could be the latest in a number of similar strikes on the retailer’s facilities over the past week.
Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to target defense-industrial facilities, oil infrastructure, and logistics hubs deep inside Russia in an effort to curb Moscow’s energy revenues, which help fund its full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted and destroyed 328 Ukrainian drones overnight on July 24-25, without saying how many reached their targets. Separately, Russia's regional officials reported injuries and damage in the country's southern Rostov region.The Ukrainian strikes came as Kyiv observed a day of mourning after at least 10 people were killed in a Russian ballistic missile strike on July 24 on an exhibition of drone technology near the Ukrainian capital.Condemning the attack as a "terrorist act," acting Kyiv Regional Military Administration head Ruslan Oliynyk said "the enemy cynically struck a place where people were," adding that flags would be flown at half-mast across the region.Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office said it had opened an investigation into whether officials were negligent in organizing the event, resulting in deaths and other serious consequences.Elsewhere, six people were killed in Russian glide bomb attacks on the key frontline city of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region on July 24.
Speaking to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, an injured Slovyansk resident with a bandaged head said he had lost his wife in the strikes, on what would have been her 50th birthday."My wife was supposed to turn 50 today. She was killed. My mother-in-law and daughter are in the hospital," he added, standing beside his blood-stained car with shattered windows.In the Sumy region on July 25, three drivers working for a private postal and parcel delivery company were killed after a Russian drone struck one of the company's facilities.Regional Governor Oleh Hryhorov said "the Russians deliberately struck a civilian facility where people were staying and working." He added that a large fire broke out and rescuers were initially unable to fully respond because of the threat of further attacks.Two men were found dead at the scene, while a third died on the way to hospital after suffering critical injuries.The Russian military has regularly hit Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure using drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs, and multiple rocket launchers.Ukraine and international organizations say the strikes amount to war crimes and that civilians are deliberately targeted.Russia denies targeting civilians, despite widespread evidence documenting attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure.
