Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed the military to enhance its long-range drone strikes against Russia amid ongoing attacks across Ukraine. In an evening address on Friday, Zelenskyy stated that he aims for the army to launch at least '1,000 drones' daily, which is more than three times the current estimate of 300. 'There needs to be more,' he said. 'There is a concrete goal, and we will fulfil this task.'
Zelenskyy also commented on reports regarding a visit by U.S. spy chief John Ratcliffe to Moscow for meetings. He noted that Kyiv received information from the U.S. about these meetings but did not provide further details. 'There were a number of meetings there,' he added, expressing gratitude to the U.S. for the information and the necessary tone of the conversation with Russia.
The Kremlin confirmed that Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials but stated there were 'no meetings of any kind with the Russian president.' This visit marked a rare high-level direct intelligence engagement amid stalled peace negotiations.
Recent Russian attacks have resulted in several casualties across Ukraine. In the Kyiv region, at least one person was killed and two others injured early on Friday, according to regional Governor Tymur Tkachenko. A drone strike in the northeastern Sumy region killed a 61-year-old man and injured seven others, four of whom were hospitalized, as reported by the regional military administration.
In Kherson, Russian air and artillery attacks killed a 61-year-old man and injured 11 others, including a child, as stated by regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Strikes continued throughout the day in Kherson, located in southern Ukraine near the Black Sea. In the Kharkiv region, shelling resulted in the deaths of a 26-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, with another 13 people injured, including two children.
In response, Ukraine's army struck an oil refinery in the Yaroslavl region of Russia, approximately 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from the front line, according to Zelenskyy. He previously noted on Telegram that Kyiv’s military intelligence had demonstrated the 'high effectiveness' of strikes on military production and oil facilities deep within Russian territory, impacting Moscow’s fuel supplies and export revenue while inflicting 'significant' damage to its solid-fuel rocket engine manufacturing.