Zelensky Declares Expansion Of Long-Range Attacks On Russian Oil Refineries 

Days after urging European allies in Britain that Ukraine urgently needs sufficient long-range weapons to change the course of the war, President Zelensky has declared Monday that he intends to expand strikes against Russian refineries.

After a meeting with his staff Zelensky indicated, “We reviewed the effectiveness of our long-range strikes over a defined period and the results achieved. Russian oil refining is already paying a tangible price for the war—and will pay even more. We set tasks to expand the geography for the use of our long-range capabilities.”

This makes clear it’s no secret how Kiev would use Tomahawks missiles if it received Washington’s approval to get them; however, President Trump has appeared to resist so far.

The past couple of months have seen Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites and oil depots become an almost nightly phenomenon. Drones are very hard to defend against, given their small size, so the UAVs often hit their targets as they are often sent in large waves.

Recently, media sources have said the Trump White House has been actively giving intelligence assistance to Ukraine related to these long-range attacks on Russian energy. Still, there’s as yet no indication Trump has approved Tomahawks.

The Ukrainians of lately been striking defense sector and manufacturing sites as well, sometimes with devastating and deadly effect. One recent ‘mystery’ blast more than a dozen people:

The death toll from an explosion at a Russian plastics manufacturing plant has increased to 13 people, the Chelyabinsk regional administration said Monday.

The blast occurred last Wednesday night at the Plastmass plant in the town of Kopeysk. The facility, known for producing artillery ammunition for the Russian military, is subject to Western sanctions.

It is unclear whether sabotage or other deliberate action caused the explosion.

But Russia has been hitting back hard, with a Monday an aerial attack on an important energy facility in Chernihiv region, resulting in a number of towns and settlements in the border area being without electricity.

Recently, Russia has been expanding its attacks in the capital region, also with reports of civilian manufacturing companies being hit:

Russia’s ballistic attack on Kyiv damaged the production facilities of Idealist Coffee & Co., Ukraine’s leading drip coffee manufacturer, on Oct. 25, the company reported on its Instagram profile.

“The State Emergency Service and other emergency teams are working to extinguish fires and mitigate the consequences,” Idealist wrote after the attack.

Ukrainian media reviews, “Idealist was founded in 2019 by Sergii Koretskyi, current CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned gas giant Naftogaz Group. According to the company, Idealist Coffee & Co is Ukraine’s largest drip coffee manufacturer, using high-quality Arabica beans from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.”

The US will “help” Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey (as they helped Germany) to cut themselves off cheap Russian oil and gas, and replace it with expensive American energy. With friends like these, who needs enemies… pic.twitter.com/edbbS0MtFv

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) October 27, 2025

Both warring sides’ attacks on energy and manufacturing sites have seemed unrelenting. But in Ukraine Russia has the advantage of utilizing warplanes as well as ballistic missiles, often launched from naval ships in the Black Sea.