Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Thursday that US weapons deliveries to Ukraine have not ceased, despite ongoing conflicts elsewhere. He stated that Ukrainian long-range strikes continue to target Russian oil production and manufacturing plants, causing significant economic damage.
“Of course, we are hitting what is painful for Russia, and it is very painful,” Zelenskyy said in voice messages to reporters, noting that Russian losses from these strikes have reached tens of billions of dollars. While independent verification was not possible, Russian officials have acknowledged attacks on infrastructure more than 1,000 kilometres inside Russia.
Ukraine is using domestically developed drone and missile technology to strike Russian territory, alongside American-made Patriot air defence systems to protect its own skies. “We see that the Russians do not want to stop — they are hitting our energy sector and our people. We will respond,” Zelenskyy added.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for his third visit in a year, travelling overnight by train from Poland. In a speech to a security conference, he praised Ukrainians for their “strength not just in bravery and capability, but in unity, in trust,” urging them to continue holding together. It remained unclear whether he would meet Zelenskyy, who was due to attend an EU summit in Cyprus.
Earlier on Thursday, a Russian drone attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed three people and wounded ten, damaging a 13-storey building and an administrative building. Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have intercepted 154 Ukrainian drones over its regions and Crimea. In the Krasnodar region, firefighters battled a large blaze at the Black Sea port of Tuapse for a third day, caused by a Ukrainian drone strike, with toxic materials contaminating the area.
Ukrainian forces also struck oil infrastructure in Russia's Samara region and a pipeline in the Nizhegorodskaya region, according to officials. A drone attack on an industrial facility in Novokuybyshevsk killed one person, and debris hit a residential building in Samara, injuring several. The SBU claimed responsibility for hitting the Gorky oil pumping station in Nizhny Novgorod, damaging three tanks and causing a large fire.
