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Ukrainian drones attacked a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, causing a fire and forcing it to suspend gas intake from Kazakhstan, Russian and Kazakh officials said on Sunday.
us President donald trump Meanwhile it was suggested Kyiv may have to leave the area in exchange for eliminating moscowThe more than 3 1/2-year offensive is in the latest apparent reversal on how to pursue peace.
The Orenburg plant, run by the state-owned gas giant gazprom and located in the field of the same name near the Kazakh border, is part of a production and processing complex that is one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic metres. It handles gas condensate from Orenburg’s own oil and gas fields as well as from the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan.
According to regional governor Yevgeny Solntsev, the drone strikes caused a fire and damaged part of a workshop at the plant. “The plant was temporarily unable to process gas produced in Kazakhstan due to the emergency situation following the drone attack,” the Kazakh Energy Ministry said on Sunday, citing a notification from Gazprom.
Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement on Sunday that a “large-scale fire” broke out at the Orenburg plant and damaged one of its gas processing and purification units.
Kiev has stepped up attacks on Russian energy facilities in recent months, saying they fund and directly promote Moscow’s war effort.
modified Russian bomb
Meanwhile, Ukrainian prosecutors claim Moscow is modifying its deadly air-guided bombs to attack civilians deeper into Ukraine. Local officials in Kharkiv said Russia attacked a residential neighborhood using the new rocket-powered aerial bomb for the first time.
Kharkiv’s regional prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Russia used the weapon, called a UMPB-5R, which can travel up to 130 kilometers (80 miles), in the attack on the city of Lozava on Saturday afternoon. The city is located 150 kilometers (93 mi) south of Kharkiv, a considerable distance for the weapons to fly.
Russia continued to attack other parts of Ukraine close to the front line. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, at least 11 people were injured after Russian drones attacked the Shakhtarske area. Acting regional governor Vladislav Khavanenko said at least 14 five-story buildings and a store were damaged.
Ukraine’s General Staff also claimed that a separate drone strike hit Russia’s Novokuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region near Orenburg, causing a fire and damaging its main refining units.
The Novokuibyshevsk facility, operated by Russian gas major Rosneft, has an annual capacity of 4.9 million tonnes, and produces more than 20 types of oil-based products. Russian officials did not immediately acknowledge the Ukrainian claim or discuss any damages.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday morning that its air defense forces had shot down 45 Ukrainian drones during the night, including 12 in the Samara region, one in the Orenburg region and 11 in the Saratov region neighboring Samara.
In turn, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Sunday that Russia launched 62 drones into Ukrainian territory during the night. It said 40 of these were shot down, or diverted due to electronic jamming.
Trump says Ukraine may have to give up land for peace
In exchange for an end to Moscow’s aggression, Trump appeared to move toward pressuring Ukraine to regain ground lost to Russia.
In a Fox News interview conducted Thursday, he was asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin Would be willing to end the war “without taking significant assets from Ukraine”, Trump replied: “Okay, he’s going to take some.”
“They fought and they have a lot of property. They won some property,” Trump said. “We are the only nation that enters a war, wins and then goes away.”
The interview was broadcast Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” but was conducted before Trump spoke to Putin and Zelensky last week.
The comments were another change of position on the war by the US leader. In recent weeks, Trump had shown increasing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war.
In a Thursday interview, he made no commitments about sending the Tomahawk missiles requested by Ukraine, saying, “I’m considering it” but expressed concern about the declining U.S. weapons stockpile.
“We need them for ourselves, too,” Trump said. “We can’t give all our weapons to Ukraine. We just can’t do that.”
Russians and Ukrainians interviewed by The Associated Press last week expressed hope for progress at the upcoming summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest, Hungary, but said they did not expect any major breakthroughs.
The two leaders agreed to meet in the coming weeks in a phone call Thursday, according to Trump, who also sat down with Zelensky at the White House on Friday.
Contrary to Kiev’s hopes, Trump made no commitment to provide Tomahawks after that meeting. These missiles will be the longest-range weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal and will allow it to accurately strike targets inside Russia, including Moscow.
Analysts say the delivery of the Tomahawks could help push the Kremlin forward in negotiations, as Trump has expressed frustration over Putin’s refusal to budge on key aspects of a potential peace deal.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine