Eleanor Beardsley
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Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv.
The SBU says Ukrainian long-range drones struck the Ukhta oil refinery in Russia's Komi Republic.
The refinery is part of Russia's Lukoil group and processes around 4.2 million tons of oil a year.
A fire and heavy smoke were reported at the facility following the strike.
NPR could not independently verify the claim.
Nearly four years into Russia's full-scale invasion, drone use is becoming deadlier.
A Ukrainian military analyst told NPR up to 80% of casualties on the front line are caused by smaller, first-person view drones.
The fiber-optic drones that can't be jammed have created a 15-mile area on both sides of the front line known as the kill zone.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kyiv.
Overnight Thursday, Russia launched 24 Iskander ballistic missiles, one guided air missile, and 219 drones, say Ukrainian authorities.
Opposition member of parliament Ina Sovsun says Russian President Vladimir Putin is just playing for time.
He has no real plan to stop this war.
And he basically tricked Trump into a situation where Trump can claim that he can continue the negotiations, yet at the same time as we're seeing nothing real came out of those talks so far.
Russia has not budged from its maximalist demands, she says, and Putin refuses to meet with Zelensky because it would be all too obvious who is the impediment to peace.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Kiev.
Ukraine says its air defenses intercepted 112 drones, but at least 15 made it through, striking several locations.
In Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian strike on a home killed a father and his three toddlers.
Their pregnant mother was injured.
Writing on X, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that each Russian strike, quote, undermines trust in everything being done diplomatically to end this war and proves that only strong pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine can stop the killings.