Ukraine Hits Saratov Oil Refinery, Caspian Military Base in Latest Deep-Strike Wave
Ukraine’s Defense Forces carried out another wave of long-range strikes against military and infrastructure targets deep inside Russia overnight, hitting the Saratov Oil Refinery, a military base near the Caspian Sea and other targets, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. The strikes are part of Ukraine’s long-running deep-strike campaign against Russian refining infrastructure and pre-positioned assets ahead of an anticipated Russian summer offensive. Russia launched fresh strikes on Ukraine in response. Ukraine’s military separately said a Russian brigade that committed war crimes in Bucha had been hit by a Ukrainian drone strike over the weekend.
Ukrainian deep-strike operations against Russian refineries have measurably affected Russian fuel availability through 2026, with Russian wholesale petrol prices spiking after multiple strikes on refining infrastructure. The Caspian military-base strike opens a new operational direction for the Ukrainian deep-strike campaign — the Caspian basin houses both Russian and Iranian military infrastructure that has been used to facilitate Iranian Shahed drone delivery to Russia. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Saturday that the United States will “find a way” to help Ukraine defend itself, after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plea for more air-defence missiles. The renewed US-Iran strikes Monday may further constrain Patriot interceptor availability for Ukraine in the short term.