Ukraine creates 'long-range' command to step up strikes on Russia

KYIV, July 10 - Ukraine is setting up a "long-range impact" command within its armed forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as Kyiv's campaign against Russian energy and logistics has forced Moscow to ban diesel exports and restrict shipping near the Sea of Azov, which abuts the Black Sea.

For months, Ukrainian attack drones have been targeting key energy infrastructure thousands of kilometres across Russia in what Kyiv casts as long-range sanctions against the primary contributor to Russia's state budget, backing its war effort.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported strikes almost daily, with officials saying it is only fair to bring the war to Russia more than four years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

"Today, I signed a decree establishing a special command within the Armed Forces – a command aimed at a long-range and, in effect, global impact on Russia in response to this war," Zelenskiy said in his evening address to the nation.

"This command must focus 100% of available resources on further reducing Russia's capacity to wage war."

In what has evolved into an almost-daily ritual for Ukrainians worn down by Russia's relentless attacks that have brought a devastating civilian death toll, Kyiv's military bloggers begin each morning by reporting the results of deep strikes, sharing images of Russian energy facilities in flames.

On Friday alone, Ukraine struck the Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, one of the largest in Russia's south, and the Ust-Luga oil refining complex in the Leningrad region, Ukraine's general staff said. Both are frequent targets.

An oil terminal and an oil depot in the Rostov region came under strikes as well, with further explosions and fire, according to the statement.

On Wednesday, Russia banned diesel exports to ensure enough domestic supply due to a fuel crisis in the occupied Crimea peninsula that has lasted for weeks, and significant shortages in other regions. Several refineries in Russia have had to temporarily suspend operations at some point.

Domestic gasoline output is down to around 65% of capacity as a result of the strikes, according to two industry sources and Reuters calculations.

ECONOMY HIT

Zelenskiy and military officials have been urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war now before intensified strikes deep inside Russia, once unimaginable for its smaller and less war-ready neighbour, further damages its economy.

Putin is rejecting calls to negotiate peace, and the strikes are strengthening his resolve to keep fighting, sources said.

On Friday, Ukraine also struck 10 tankers in the Sea of Azov, among almost 50 fuel vessels damaged in the last five days, Robert Brovdi, Ukraine's drone forces commander and one of the masterminds of the long-range campaign, said.

Moscow's "shadow fleet is shrinking," Brovdi said.

Russia temporarily stopped shipping through a channel linking the Don River with the Sea of Azov, two grain export industry sources said.

That decision, experts say, could affect almost one-quarter of Russian wheat exports in the area, another potential hit to Russia's economy.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine's proposals to bring peace closer have support from within Putin's inner circle.

"They understand what is happening and that there is no alternative to peace," he said.

The successful strikes mark a significant departure from the early days of the invasion and years of attritional warfare, but experts warn it's too early to say Ukraine has turned the tide of the conflict.

Ukraine, chronically short on air defences, remains exposed to Russian ballistic missile strikes, which Zelenskiy calls Moscow's last advantage in the war. REUTERS