Ukrainian UAVs have struck the Russian Bashneft refinery in the city of Ufa, situated some 1,400 kilometres from Ukraine, triggering blasts and a inferno, according to a insider in Ukraine's SBU.
This marks the latest SBU long-range attack in Bashkortostan in the recent weeks. Those attacks show that there are no protected areas in the far hinterland of the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian President Appeals to US President to Mediate Ceasefire in the Conflict
Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the US President to mediate a ceasefire in Ukraine during a call on the weekend.
"When a hostilities can be ended in a single area, then surely additional conflicts can be halted as well, including the Russian aggression," Zelenskyy remarked, praising the US President's "exceptional" Middle East truce proposal and calling for the US president to compel the Russian government into discussions.
Russian Strikes Claim Victims in the Country
Moscow's assaults on Ukrainian territory claimed the lives of 5 individuals on Saturday and cut power to areas of Ukraine's south Odesa oblast, as stated by authorities in Ukraine.
Two civilians were killed inside a church in the town when it was struck, as reported by regional officials.
In Russia's frontier area of Belgorod, a truck driver was fatally wounded by a Ukrainian strike, according to municipal sources.
Energy Recovery Work in Kyiv
Operations carried on on Saturday to repair energy infrastructure in Kyiv, after assaults.
Power had been returned to over 800,000 inhabitants by the weekend and the largest utility provider announced the main work to recover electricity was concluded though some outages persisted.
Air Defence Operations and UAV Downings
The Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems downed or disrupted 54 out of seventy-eight enemy drones launched targeting the country overnight, the air force announced on the weekend.
The Russian defence ministry claimed it shot down 42 enemy drones over the country's airspace.
Cuban Government Refutes Accusations of Providing Troops to the War
Cuba on the weekend refuted US assertions it has provided soldiers to engage in the Ukraine war, while declaring officials in Havana "do not have exact information about individuals" engaged "voluntarily" or "within the troops of either party".
The foreign ministry in the capital announced 26 Cubans had been sentenced to incarceration ranging from five up to fourteen years for participating as mercenaries since last September when reports spread of Cubans being deployed to the battlefield in Ukraine.
I Want to Live Program Reports Information on Cuban National Recruitment
The surrender initiative, a Ukrainian government project that promotes enemy combatants to surrender, stated in spring: "We have confirmed the identities and information of over a thousand Cuban nationals who entered into agreements with the Russian armed forces in recently."
The Cuban foreign ministry commented of Cubans who might be involved: "Undeniably that not a single one have the support, dedication, or approval of the government in Havana for their involvement."
Kin of Cuban nationals who left for the Russian Federation in 2023 informed Agence France-Presse at the time that their relatives had been tricked into joining through advertisements on social media.
