Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky [Getty Images]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky [Getty Images]

Ukraine escalated its military pressure on Russia as the NATO summit opened, launching a massive drone offensive targeting Moscow and supply lines to the Crimean Peninsula. The sustained long-range drone campaign is expected to strengthen President Volodymyr Zelensky's hand at the gathering.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 430 drones flew toward the Moscow region from Tuesday evening through early Wednesday, according to AFP and other news agencies. He said most were neutralized at a distance, while 36 reached the Moscow area but were all shot down.

In the Belgorod region on Russia's border, local authorities said one civilian was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike.

Ukraine also struck Russia's fuel supply lines to Crimea for two consecutive days.

Ukraine's drone units said they attacked 10 vessels in the Sea of Azov on Wednesday, including ships from Russia's sanctions-evading "shadow fleet." They had also struck two shadow-fleet vessels in the same waters on Tuesday. The Sea of Azov serves as a critical supply corridor linking Russian-occupied Crimea with occupied territories in southern Ukraine.

Two military factories in Russia's Bryansk region were also attacked.

Ukraine has recently focused its strikes on energy facilities and military logistics hubs deep inside Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine hit the Omsk oil refinery — Russia's largest — located about 2,700 kilometers from Ukraine, in what analysts described as the longest-range strike of the war.

The relentless attacks have forced Russia to acknowledge fuel shortages, and it has begun importing gasoline from India and Kazakhstan.

Some foreign media outlets assessed that the battlefield situation has shifted somewhat in Ukraine's favor. Bloomberg said Zelensky would attend this year's NATO summit "in a different position than before," adding that he is "more confident than ever — and for good reason."

Ukraine's demonstrated long-range drone capability has also bolstered allied discussions on military support. Ukraine's fiscal position has also improved somewhat after the EU resumed loan assistance that had been delayed by opposition from former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

US President Donald Trump recently said Vladimir Putin "seems to feel the pressure," adding that "he wants to end this, and Ukraine wants to end it too" — remarks that lent weight to the prospect of ceasefire negotiations.

However, analysts caution it is too early to say Ukraine has fully reversed the tide of the war.

Russia has continued its offensive along the eastern Donetsk front while simultaneously carrying out large-scale air strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's rear.

Ukrainian authorities said Russia fired 68 missiles and 351 attack drones at the capital Kyiv on Tuesday, killing at least 28 civilians. The attack came just five days after a large-scale strike on July 1 killed 31 people.

Zelensky said Ukraine lacked sufficient interceptor missiles to stop Russia's ballistic missiles and called again on the United States and Europe to expand air defense support. "The United States and Europe have the capability to stop this," he said.


sjy@heraldcorp.com