At least six people were killed and 36 injured in another round of Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine, targeting the eastern city of Balakliia and the northern region of Sumy.
But the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noted that Ukraine’s military managed to hit two Russian refineries in targeted attacks, hitting “Russia’s oil revenues, which it uses to finance the war and the killing of Ukrainians.”
“Ukraine’s Defence Forces struck the aggressor’s facilities more than 1,300 kilometres from the frontline. The Bashneft-Novoil refinery was hit in Bashkortostan. In the Yaroslavl region, nearly 700 kilometres from our border, the Slavneft-YANOS refinery was hit,” he said.
“Russia must choose peace,” he added.
The attacks come at a particularly sensitive moment as Ukraine is growing concerned about the lack of air defence missiles to protect its skies. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte pledged to “urgently” look into this after speaking to Zelenskyy last night.
Later this month, US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to make their first visit to Kyiv for direct talks with Zelenskyy, with the issue of US licensing the manufacturing of Patriot missiles to Ukraine is likely to be discussed.
Elsewhere, I will be keeping an eye on the latest from Leipzig after last night’s press conference by Germany’s interior minister Alexander Dobrindt, hinting at the possible involvement of “foreign powers” remaining in “competition” with Europe on hybrid threats.
Who could he possibly be thinking about?
I will also follow the latest from central and south eastern Europe as several countries remain on red alert due to extreme temperatures. Austria and Slovakia broke their all-time high temperature records on Wednesday, with more extreme heat expected today, including also in Italy.
It’s Thursday, 6 August 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
