Who suffers most when refineries are bombed? Budanov’s remark stuns. Trump arrogantly tries to replace the president; Xiao Ze delivers a humiliating slap!

1. On October 8, Ukrainian forces struck a major oil refinery in Salavat, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. Located approximately 1,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, this facility is one of Russia’s largest oil refining and petrochemical complexes, with an annual processing capacity of up to 10 million tons of hydrocarbon feedstock, producing fuels and petrochemical products. On the same day—October 8—after drone strikes hit Russia’s Ryazan Oblast, a major data center operated by Russian internet giant Yandex caught fire. Subsequently, widespread outages affected numerous Russian online services, websites, and digital platforms. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated: “Ukraine will absolutely never target children in its response—and will never do so.” Analysts note that Ukraine’s retaliatory strikes deliberately avoid civilian targets, standing in stark contrast to Russia’s repeated attacks on Ukrainian cities, which have caused massive civilian casualties. In the early hours of October 9, Ukrainian forces struck facilities at the Launch Complex Institute and the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Decommissioning Center in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. The former develops, maintains, and operates launch complexes, fueling equipment, and missile control systems; the latter dismantles obsolete ICBMs while repurposing usable components and high-explosive materials for other missile production. Ukrainian forces also struck the Redkino Experimental Plant in Tver Oblast—a critical node in Russia’s military-industrial supply chain responsible for manufacturing fuel components used in Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles. On October 9, Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces had attacked a refinery in Omsk, another in Ukhta, and a large data center in Kaluga Oblast, Russia. According to Russian media reports, on the night of October 9, a Ukrainian drone strike hit Yandex’s data center in Kaluga Oblast, disabling multiple modules of the facility. On the night of October 10, Ukrainian forces again struck the Samara Oil Pipeline Production and Dispatch Station (LPDS) near the settlement of Prosveshcheniye in Samara Oblast. This LPDS serves as a vital hub for receiving, storing, and distributing petroleum products. Additionally, Ukrainian forces struck the Yug Rusy oil terminal in Rostov-on-Don’s Zheleznodorozhny District—the terminal has an annual design throughput capacity of approximately 2.5 million tons. On October 11, Ukraine’s ‘Atesh’ partisan unit announced that its members had destroyed a freight diesel locomotive near Liski railway station in Voronezh Oblast, Russia. Liski Junction is a massive transportation artery on Russian Railways’ southern mainline—the very route along which the Russian military transports heavy armored vehicles, fuel, and tons of ammunition to frontline units. The Ukrainian 34th Marine Brigade released video footage on October 11 claiming it had destroyed two Russian patrol boats. 2. Former U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and retired General Kurt Volker recently told Fox News in an interview that Ukraine should continue striking oil refineries inside Russia, adding that the diesel supply agreement reportedly reached between Moscow and Washington may well be a roundabout tactic employed by the Kremlin to alleviate mounting pressure. Volker believes Zelenskyy is delivering powerful blows against oil refineries deep inside Russian territory—and Putin is actively seeking ways to ease this pressure.

Analysis of the latest Russia-Ukraine war developments as of 5:00 a.m., August 21, 2026 (text version)!

5. According to AFP, at 4:44 a.m. yesterday, multiple hostile drones suddenly appeared on Romanian radar screens—many people were still asleep. Seventeen minutes later, a Spanish F-18 fighter jet fired its weapons, reducing all targets to fragments scattered across sunflower fields between two villages in Galați County. From detection to interception: exactly 17 minutes. During those 17 minutes, instructions from NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre were relayed via satellite directly into the pilot’s cockpit—authorization, target lock, and firing executed seamlessly. This marked the fourth time since 2026 that Romania has shot down cross-border drones within its airspace. The first three incidents all occurred in July this year—and all were intercepted by Romanian F-16s. This time, however, Spanish Air Force F-18s launched from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base carried out the interception. 6. According to CNN, after speaking with Putin on August 18, Trump claimed that Putin had agreed to meet with Zelenskyy. On August 19, the White House confirmed through its spokesperson that preparations for such a meeting were already underway. Yet on the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov responded coolly, stating that 'high-level contacts require the most meticulous preparation.' In Kremlin diplomatic parlance, this phrasing neither rejects nor accepts the proposal—it simply opens a corridor for delay. Even more provocative was Russia’s subsequent large-scale aerial assault: according to Ukrainian Air Force data, Russia launched 270 Shahed drones and decoys, five Iskander ballistic missiles, and five X-101 cruise missiles. Of these, 40 drones and four missiles struck sixteen locations. A missile strike on Pechenihy in Kharkiv Oblast killed at least ten civilians and injured seventeen others; over ten residential buildings, a café, a post office, and multiple vehicles were destroyed (see photo below showing the café after the attack). Zelenskyy called it a 'barbaric attack' and vowed retaliation. 7. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak acknowledged that Russia has begun importing fuel and introduced necessary regulations permitting production of certain lower-emission-grade fuels. Meanwhile, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot recently stated that if Europe is willing to jointly shoulder the risks, Belgium’s government would support using approximately €200 billion in frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine. 8. Latest frontline developments in the Russia-Ukraine war: 1) Chuvash Republic direction: A substation in Cheboksary—the regional capital—was struck and caught fire. Damage assessment is ongoing. 2) Nizhny Novgorod Oblast direction: The Sverdlov Explosives Plant in Dzerzhinsk was struck by Ukrainian drones, triggering a fire. 3) Ufa direction, capital of Bashkortostan Republic: Ukrainian drones struck the Bashneft-UNPZ refinery in Ufa city yesterday, igniting fires in refining equipment. An apartment building in an industrial zone of Ufa city was hit by electronic warfare effects. 4) Lyman front: Ukrainian forces have fully recaptured Novye village—the northern flank of Kolohachy—bringing it under Ukrainian control. Ukrainian troops continue efforts to encircle Russian forces advancing here. 5) Pokrovsk front: Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces repeatedly attempted light-infantry infiltration along existing contact lines, aiming to bypass fixed defenses and penetrate behind Ukrainian positions—but failed to achieve any decisive breakthrough. 6) Dnipro Petrovsk front: Ukrainian forces advanced eastward to the area east of Novopavlivka, reclaiming an 8-square-kilometer zone and further pressuring Russian forces.

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