Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine was working to expand long-range attacks inside Russia with a focus on targeting oil refineries.
Zelensky said he held a meeting with arms manufacturers that produce long-range weapons. “We reviewed the effectiveness of our long-range strikes over a defined period and the results achieved,” he wrote on X.
“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,” the Ukrainian leader added.
So far, the US has denied Zelensky’s request for Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles. But according to media reports, the US has been helping Ukraine with strikes deep inside Russia, including its drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that the US has been providing intelligence for the drone attacks, and one source told the paper that Ukraine’s drone force is the “instrument” the US is using to achieve the goal of undermining the Russian economy and pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin toward a settlement to end the war. The US has also imposed new sanctions on Russian oil companies.
President Trump recently denied a report that said the US approved Ukrainian missile strikes inside Russia, but Ukraine’s military recently claimed that it used British-provided Storm Shadow missiles, which require US targeting data, in a strike on a Russian chemical plant.
While vowing to expand attacks inside Russia, Ukraine continues to lose territory in the battle in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have recently entered the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast. Russia’s demands for a peace deal include Ukraine ceding Donetsk and the sliver of territory it controls in Luhansk, an offer President Trump has reportedly told Zelensky to accept.
