KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian drones targeted roadside gas stations in Kyiv for a second straight day Friday, as Moscow broadened its air war in what Ukrainian officials say is an effort to rattle civilians.
Russian strikes on urban gas stations have intensified in recent months, mostly in regions near the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine. It is part of a campaign to disrupt civilian life and weaken morale that has also included attacks on food distribution hubs, sporadically leaving some supermarket shelves bare in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine is urgently trying to improve its air defenses as Russia’s invasion stretches into its fifth year, and on Thursday won pledges of more support from Canada.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has extended its own long-range drone campaign deep into Russia, straining air defenses across its bigger neighbor´s vast territory. On Thursday, its military reported hitting a refinery more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) away in Siberia as Kyiv tries to hurt Russia´s vital oil sector. Its strikes have caused fuel shortages in Russia, one of the world´s biggest energy producers.
Russia´s oil product exports hit record lows in August, and Moscow is importing fuel from South Korea and India, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air said in a report.
“Ukrainian strikes on Russia´s refining capacity have turned tables on the world´s once largest oil product exporter to see them start importing fuels, with imports surging to a record 172,000 metric tons (189,600 tons) in August – more than seven times the previous monthly high,” the Finland-registered nonprofit said Thursday.
Drones hit two gas stations in 10 minutes in Kyiv´s Dniprovskyi and Obolonskyi districts Friday. Five people, including a rescuer, were wounded, the State Emergency Service said.
Ukrainian officials and analysts have warned for months that Russia would extend gas station strikes to the capital as part of its campaign to intimidate civilians.
“Russia is systematically attacking places where it knows people will be spending their time going about their daily lives, seeking to maximize casualties, spread fear, and put pressure on Ukrainian society,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X late Thursday.
Authorities have urged residents not to linger near gas stations and other exposed infrastructure during air raid alerts.
Pavlohrad, a city in central Ukraine, observed an official day of mourning Friday for five residents killed near shopping malls in broad daylight by Russian drones the previous day.
The attack also wounded 67 people, Sybiha said on X.
In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a 32-year-old woman and her 10-year-old son were wounded in an overnight Russian drone attack, Ukraine´s State Emergency Service said. The drones struck a nine-story apartment block and a shopping mall, it said.
Efforts to put out the blazes were slowed by the constant threat of repeat strikes, forcing firefighters to stop working and take shelter, it added.
Ukraine launched a major barrage overnight from Thursday to Friday, with the Russian Defense Ministry saying air defenses intercepted 777 Ukrainian drones over 16 Russian regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the waters of the Azov and the Caspian seas.
Two people were killed and three others wounded overnight in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Tula region south of Moscow, local officials said Friday.
A Ukrainian drone strike during the night started a fire at the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, Russian independent online outlet Astra said Friday.
Kyiv has repeatedly targeted that refinery, which was last hit in early August.