Ukraine strikes multiple Russian oil refineries deep inside Russia amid ongoing war

Aug 11, 2026

Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone campaign, striking multiple Russian oil refineries deep inside Russia, including the Taneco plant in Tatarstan and the Orsknefteorgsintez refinery in Orsk. While Russia claims to have intercepted 456 drones, the strikes have caused fires and casualties. Amid the escalation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted new peace proposals to US negotiators, even as Kyiv warns of a massive deployment of up to 50,000 North Korean troops to support Russia's war effort.

Ukrainian strikes on refineries

▪The drone attack on Nizhnekamsk on August 10, 2026, reportedly killed 12 people and injured 39, according to the press service of Tatarstan's head Rustam Minnikhanov.
▪Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Syzran, Samara Oblast, and another in Ilsky, Krasnodar Krai, on the morning of August 8, 2026, causing fires at both facilities.
▪The Ukrainian military attacked the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk on August 11, 2026, recording a fire at the facility.
▪Ukrainian forces targeted the Taneco oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, and the ZapSibNeftekhim petrochemical plant overnight on August 10, 2026, causing a fire at the Taneco plant.

Russian air defense claims

▪The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 456 Ukrainian drones overnight on August 10, 2026, across 16 Russian regions, Moscow, occupied Crimea, and Krasnodar Krai.
▪A drone strike on a private home in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in Russia's Belgorod Oblast reportedly killed one woman on August 10, 2026.

Ukraine-US war proposals

▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on August 11, 2026, that Kyiv has delivered fresh proposals to American negotiators aimed at ending the war with Russia.
▪US-mediated peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have been frozen since a war in Iran broke out in February 2026.

Russian military escalation

▪Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on August 11, 2026, that Russia and North Korea have agreed to station between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean troops on Russian territory.
▪Ukraine claims that Russia is preparing a large-scale strike campaign against Kyiv's energy infrastructure ahead of Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24, 2026.

Russian political crackdown

▪Russia's highest court ordered on August 10, 2026, that Yabloko, the only political party opposing the war, be excluded from the ballot in the September 2026 parliamentary election.
▪More than 95 percent of Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by the UN reported experiencing torture or ill-treatment by Russian authorities, according to UN official Claudia Fuentes Julio.

Trump-Putin prisoner release

▪Robert Gilman was arrested in Russia in early 2022 for allegedly kicking a police officer while intoxicated, and Russia requested no exchange in return for his August 2026 release.
▪Donald Trump announced on August 11, 2026, that former US Marine Robert Gilman will be released by Russia on a humanitarian basis following discussions with Vladimir Putin.