KYIV — Ukraine struck deep inside Russia, with drones hitting a major oil refinery 1,400 kilometers from the front lines, while neighboring Romania reported a violation of its airspace by a Russian drone — days after fellow NATO member Poland said similar projectiles struck its territory.
Officials in Russia’s Bashkortostan region on September 13 said a fire was ignited at one of the country’s largest oil facilities near the city of Ufa when debris from two shot-down Ukrainian drones fell on the site.
“Both downed drones fell on the territory of the enterprise,” Radiy Khabirov, head of Russia’s Bashkortostan region, wrote on Telegram.
“In the first case, a small fire broke out and was quickly extinguished. In the second, the supply of technical water was interrupted,” he said, adding that the facility continued to operate.
Ufa’s airport announced it temporarily suspended activity at the facility following the attack.
Reuters reported that Ukraine’s strikes as of the end of August had disabled 17 percent of the Russian oil refining industry, threatening to cause fuel shortages and a major hit to the Kremlin’s budget from lost revenue.
Later, another unconfirmed Ukrainian drone strike hit the Perm region near the Ural Mountains, more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on infrastructure related to the Kremlin’s war effort in response to Russia’s continued assaults on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.
“We are doing everything possible on our side to reduce Russia’s ability to fight,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
“Our deep strikes will intensify — financing and tasks for this are already in place. Diplomats are also actively working with all partners to reduce their trade ties with Russia. And we are coordinating our actions.”
The remarks come as US President Donald Trump on September 13 urged all NATO members to halt their purchases of Russian oil, saying such a move would help end the deadly conflict in Ukraine.
Trump also proposed that NATO countries impose secondary tariffs of 50-100 percent on China for its purchases of Russian petroleum.
Meanwhile, Romania’s Defense Ministry said the NATO nation’s airspace had been violated by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu told RFE/RL the drone eventually exited Romanian airspace and entered Ukrainian territory. Officials said four Romanian F-16 jets initially scrambled following the alert, although two were quickly recalled.
On September 10, at least 19 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, severely raising tensions between the NATO Western military alliance and Moscow. On September 12, NATO said it launched Eastern Sentry, a mission to bolster defenses of allied countries near Russia.
The latest action comes after Ukraine experienced a relatively calm night compared with recent days, although Russian forces still carried out limited attacks with drones and guided bombs.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported several drones moving toward the southern Kherson and Mykolayiv regions, as well as Zaporizhzhya. Russian forces also launched guided aerial bombs against the Sumy region in the northeast, though there were no reports of large-scale missile barrages that have become almost daily in recent weeks.
A structure is in ruins after a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on September 13.
The Ukrainian military added that the heaviest ground fighting over the previous 24 hours took place on the Pokrovsk front in the Donetsk region, where 49 clashes occurred.
On September 12, a Russian drone and missile strike killed three and injured five near Sumy in northern Ukraine, according to the regional governor. Despite ongoing shelling and attempts to capture villages near the border, Zelenskyy said Russian forces in the area have suffered heavy losses and “lost [their] offensive capability.”
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Romanian Service