Marianne Nørby

🇺🇦🇷🇺 THREE RUSSIAN REFINERIES HIT IN 72 HOURS AS PUTIN’S FUEL PROBLEMS MOUNT Ukraine has reportedly struck three major Russian oil refineries in just three days, targeting facilities with a combined annual processing capacity of 32.9 million tonnes. The facilities are: • Novokuybyshevsk: 8.8 million tonnes annually. • Bashneft-Novoil in Ufa: 7.1 million tonnes. • Lukoil-NORSI in Kstovo: 17 million tonnes. Together, they represent roughly 10% of Russia’s stated national refining capacity. That doesn’t mean 10% of Russian fuel production has been destroyed. The actual disruption depends on the damage and how quickly each facility can resume operations. But the timing is particularly uncomfortable for Moscow. Russia is already dealing with pressure on its fuel supplies, restrictions on diesel exports and mounting financial strains linked to the war. Local accounts from Kstovo describe petrol queues and purchase restrictions following the attack, although the extent of those measures remains unconfirmed. Meanwhile, Russian nationalist commentators are openly questioning why air defences have failed to prevent repeated strikes on valuable energy infrastructure. There is also a potential complication for the reported diesel arrangement between Trump and Putin. Even if Washington and Moscow reach an agreement, Russian suppliers still need functioning refineries, available fuel and willing American buyers. The wider economic picture matters here. Refinery repairs cost money, lost production reduces revenue, and repeated attacks force Russia to devote additional resources to protecting facilities far from the frontline. Putin has continued attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Kyiv is demonstrating that Russia’s own energy sector is vulnerable too. And unlike a temporary disruption to a single refinery, repeated strikes across several facilities can create problems that become increasingly difficult to manage.

🇺🇦🇷🇺 ZELENSKYY REJECTS PUTIN’S TERRITORIAL DEMANDS: “WE WILL NOT GIVE UP OUR LAND” Volodymyr Zelenskyy has questioned why Russia is demanding security guarantees when it was Moscow that launched the invasion. “Whom does it fear? Us?” Ukraine, he argues, is the country that needs protection against another attack. But the bigger disagreement concerns territory. Zelenskyy says Russia is using American mediators to demand that Ukraine voluntarily surrender areas its military has failed to capture. Kyiv’s answer remains no. Recognising occupied Crimea and eastern Ukrainian territories as Russian would, he says, violate Ukraine’s constitution, national dignity and the wishes of its people. Instead, Zelenskyy wants negotiations to begin with a ceasefire and a freeze along the existing frontline, leaving the most difficult territorial questions for further discussions. And those questions are about much more than drawing lines on a map. Russia still occupies the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, whose six reactors represent an enormous source of electricity. Communities along the Dnipro remain divided, with residents separated from workplaces, services and parts of their everyday lives. Zelenskyy pointed out how absurd a seemingly simple territorial division can become when people live on one side of a river and work on the other. A ceasefire might stop the shooting, but it would not automatically restore normal life. That is why the distinction between freezing a frontline and recognising Russian sovereignty matters so much. Ukraine may be prepared to discuss how the fighting ends. Zelenskyy is making clear that this does not mean accepting Moscow’s territorial claims or abandoning the people living under occupation.