UPDATE 1-Ukraine says it hits Russian oil pumping station 1,500 km away

Ukraine struck what it said was ​an oil pumping station 1,500 km (900 miles) into ‌Russia ​near the Ural Mountains with drones overnight, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv would keep increasing the range of its strikes.

Kyiv has stepped up its attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, aiming to knock out oil ‌refineries, depots and ports and cripple Moscow's biggest source of funding for its war in Ukraine, as global prices have risen due to the Iran war. Zelenskiy said Ukraine's security service had reported a successful strike deep inside Russia, calling it "a new stage in the use of Ukrainian weapons to limit the ‌potential of Russia's war" in a post on X.

He posted a video of smoke billowing into the sky from what he described as ‌a Ukrainian strike inside Russia. Zelenskiy did not identify the target, but Ukraine's SBU security service later said Ukrainian drones had hit a Russian oil pumping station near the city of Perm overnight. The Russian governor there reported a fire at an industrial facility.

"The straight-line distance is over 1,500 kilometres. We will continue to extend these ranges," Zelenskiy added. The ⁠SBU described ​the Transneft-owned station as a "strategically important" ⁠hub for Russian oil transport, distributing oil in four directions, including to a refinery in Perm. Transneft did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the incident.

Zelenskiy said ⁠that Ukraine has recorded an updated level of Russian export losses from Ukraine's long-range attacks on Russia's key western ports. He said throughput in the Baltic Sea oil ​ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga was down by 13% and 43%, respectively, and in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk by 38%.

Trade and ⁠industry sources and Reuters estimates showed that Russia has managed to keep crude oil loadings at these ports in April at March levels despite ongoing drone attacks. On Tuesday, a Ukrainian ⁠drone ​attack caused a major fire at a Russian oil refinery in the Black Sea port of Tuapse, a third attack on the refinery in less than two weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as evidence of increased Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets. Russia has been pounding Ukrainian ⁠civilian energy targets throughout the war and has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians. Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that since 2022, when Russia launched ⁠the full-scale invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine ⁠had increased the range of its strikes against Russia by 170%.

In February, Ukrainian drones struck the Ukhta refinery in Russia's Komi region, some 1,750 km from the Ukrainian border, regional officials said. "It is important that every ‌strike reduces the capabilities of ‌Russia's military industry, logistics, and oil exports," Zelenskiy added.

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