🔗 Share this article

Ukraine's unmanned aerial vehicles have hit Russia's oil processing plant in the city of Ufa, situated approximately 1,400 km from the Ukrainian border, triggering detonations and a fire, per a insider in Ukraine's Security Service.

This constitutes the third SBU long-range attack in Bashkortostan in the last month. Those strikes show that there are no secure zones in the distant backlines of the Russian state.

Zelenskyy Urges US President to Broker Peace in the Conflict

President Zelenskyy urged President Trump to mediate a ceasefire in Ukraine over a call on Saturday.

"When a war can be ended in a particular zone, then undoubtedly additional conflicts can be stopped as well, covering the Russian aggression," Zelenskyy stated, hailing Trump's "exceptional" Middle East truce proposal and calling for the US president to pressure the Moscow into negotiations.

Russian Assaults Kill Victims in Ukraine

Moscow's assaults on Ukrainian territory resulted in the deaths of five people on the weekend and cut power to parts of Ukraine's southern Odesa oblast, per local sources.

A pair of individuals were killed in a church in the town when it was targeted, as reported by local authorities.

In Russia's frontier area of the Belgorod region, a truck driver was fatally wounded by a Ukrainian strike, per local officials.

Electricity Restoration Efforts in the Capital

Work continued on Saturday to recover electricity in the Ukrainian capital, after Russian attacks.

Power had been recovered to over 800,000 residents by Saturday and the biggest power firm announced the main efforts to repair the grid was complete though partial blackouts persisted.

Air Defence Operations and UAV Interceptions

The Ukrainian air defences intercepted or jammed 54 out of 78 Russian drones deployed against the country overnight, the aerial defense command said on the weekend.

Russia's military authorities claimed it shot down forty-two drones over Russian territory.

Cuban Government Rejects Accusations of Deploying Troops to the War

Havana on the weekend denied US assertions it has provided troops to fight in the conflict in Ukraine, while stating officials in Havana "lack exact information about Cuban nationals" engaged "voluntarily" or "in the military forces of both sides".

The foreign ministry in Havana said 26 Cuban citizens had been given prison terms to prison terms ranging from 5 to 14 years for mercenary involvement since the autumn of 2023 when information circulated of individuals being deployed to the front in the conflict.

Surrender Initiative Project Reveals Data on Cuban National Involvement

I Want to Live, a official Kyiv project that encourages adversaries to lay down arms, reported in May: "Our information indicates the names and personal details of one thousand and twenty-eight individuals who entered into agreements with the Russian military in recently."

The Cuban foreign ministry commented of Cubans who might be involved: "Undeniably that not a single one have the backing, allegiance, or approval of the government in Havana for their activities."

Relatives of individuals who left for Russia in the year told Agence France-Presse at the time that their loved ones had been tricked into joining through ads on social media.