Ukrainian officials said six Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers were damaged to "varying degrees" in a strike on the Borisoglebsk airfield in Russia's Voronezh region overnight into Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said four of the aircraft had been completely destroyed. He shared an image purporting to show the aftermath of the operation, with what appears to be a parking area for the aircraft visibly charred.
Newsweek could not independently verify this image. The strikes came as Ukraine's turbulent relations with the U.S. came under further strain, with Ukrainian officials reporting their access to intelligence on incoming Russian missile strikes and full use of Elon Musk's military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet network had been curbed. It's not clear what was behind the disruption to intelligence and Starlink's sister service, Starshield, which Kyiv relies on to target Russian logistics and bases with medium-range drones and intercept Russian jet-powered drone assaults.
But British Defense Minister, Wes Streeting, said on Thursday U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had assured him the satellite connectivity access had been restored in Ukraine. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Ukraine resuming attacks on Russian oil refineries on Thursday was a "disgrace," shortly after Zelensky said Ukraine was "done" with the unilateral "energy ceasefire" announced by Trump over the weekend.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine confirmed they had agreed to the deal, but no Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries were reported between October 10 and October 14. Russia, however, confirmed it had launched devastating strikes on Ukrainian power plants earlier this week, which Ukrainian authorities reported had cut electricity access for 600,000 people in Kyiv. Both sides hope targeting energy infrastructure will hurt the other's economy and hammer home the impact of the war to civilians away from the front lines.
Russia's Defense Ministry then said on Thursday Ukraine had "attempted a massive attack" on an oil refinery in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow. Regional governor Pavel Malkov said a fire had broken out at the facility. The White House has painted rising U.S. diesel and gas prices as down to Ukraine's actions, rather than the U.S.-led war in Iran and Tehran's effective block on the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which have roiled the world's energy markets.
Trump, conscious of ballooning fuel prices hitting American consumers just ahead of the crucial midterm elections, said on Thursday Zelensky was "making the world oil price higher" and was "not doing a good service for the world." Russia’s Su-34s are two-seat, Soviet-designed fighter-bombers primarily intended to strike ground and naval targets using guided and unguided bombs and missiles. They are known for launching glide bombs at Ukrainian front-line areas and cities while lingering out of the range of Ukraine's air defenses. "These aircraft were ready for new strikes on Ukraine and were equipped with aerial bombs," Zelensky said in a social media statement.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
