Ukrainian Night Attack Sets Sloviansk Refinery on Fire, Kills One, Euronews Says

A new Ukrainian night attack set the main refinery in Sloviansk, in southern Russia, on fire and caused one death, according to the Euronews report that cites the governor of the region, Veniamin Kondratyev.

“Early this Saturday, April 29, a thick cloud of black smoke rose over Sevastopol, The New York Times reports”

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Euronews said the refinery has a processing capacity of almost 4 million tonnes of crude oil per year and described it as one of the main refineries in southern Russia and a key source of oil products for export from Russian ports on the Black Sea, including fuel oil, naphtha and marine fuel.

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Euronews also reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram that the “sanzioni a lungo raggio” campaign hit two Russian oil refineries and that each attack meant “una riduzione delle risorse che alimentano la macchina da guerra russa”.

In the same Euronews account, Putin promised to strengthen protection of oil facilities and to increase fuel production, while also saying Russia would import more fuel and accelerate repairs to end a “deficit temporaneo”.

Euronews further quoted Putin describing the attacks on refineries as an attempt to provoke “una frattura nella società russa” and to force Russia to stop, even temporarily, the advance of its troops along the front line.

Euronews reported that Putin told a Russian state television journalist that Ukrainian strikes on refineries were meant to create conditions for a negotiating process “a condizioni favorevoli ai nostri avversari,” and he added, “Non daremo loro questa possibilità”.

In a separate update, TGLA7 said the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told CNN that “Gli ucraini sono in grado di sfondare” and that it was “ancora più importante ora sostenerli.”

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TGLA7 also described Russian admissions about a thwarted infiltration in Briansk, saying two people were killed and five were captured, and it said Russian authorities confirmed they had opened channels with North Korea for the sending of arms and ammunition.

In the same TGLA7 account, Germany delivered ten Leopard tanks to Kiev, along with a radar system and 13 million munitions, while it said cannons anti-drone Vampire provided by the United States were already on the field.

TGLA7 framed the broader battlefield context as Ukrainian counteroffensives pushing beyond the border, with British intelligence saying Russian air defenses were “insufficient” and “soffrono gli attacchi con droni”.

EUobserver described a rare burst of public anger in Crimea as residents questioned Putin’s promises, quoting Crimean prime minister Sergei Aksyonov saying, “Unfortunately, in the near future no larger amount of fuel will arrive for sale,” and adding that he also reported electricity supply problems.

“Every day, the Ukraine Battlefield update newsletter offers a clear look at how the war is unfolding on the ground”

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EUobserver said the fuel crisis was tied to the Crimean Bridge’s limited role for supplies, noting that fears of further damage meant fuel transports were not allowed onto it, and it referenced the 2022 damage that caused destruction from burning fuel leaking from a tanker train.

In the same EUobserver account, it quoted a post by Anatoliy Kovalyov that asked why Crimea fuel could not be delivered “by rail across the bridge,” after Putin said on television that Crimea would soon receive fuel “by land and by sea.”

France 24, via AFP, described a front focused on capturing Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, saying the Russian army penetrated the southern part of the city at the end of 2025 and that the Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces had achieved tactical gains.

France 24 also said Ukrainian strikes have intensified against routes connecting Crimea to occupied territories and that if those routes were destroyed, Crimea would be connected to Russia only by the Kerch Bridge, which it said has already been targeted by bomb attacks several times.