Zelenskyy approves new long-range operations in response to Russian strikes

“I also approved new long-range operations in response to Russian strikes. We are preparing to expand our long-range capabilities,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram after a meeting with Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi and Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara.

40-day operation to pressure Russia to end the war

On June 25, Zelenskyy approved a “40-day operation aimed at pressuring the aggressor state to end the war.” On Aug. 4, the president approved new SBU operations.

On Aug. 4, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service said that during the 40-day operation it had struck more than 100 strategic sites in Russia and in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, as well as more than 21,000 targets on the front.

The SBU said one of the campaign’s main focuses was systematically targeting Russian aviation infrastructure. During the 40-day operation, it struck the military airfields at Saky, Hvardiiske, Belbek, Baherove, Engels and Khanskaya, as well as the Yevpatoria Aviation Plant.

“A Tu-95MS strategic bomber was destroyed, hits on two Su-35 fighter jets and two L-39 combat trainer aircraft were confirmed, hangars containing Su-24, Su-30 and Su-30SM aircraft were hit, as were hangars with Shahed drones and airfield fuel infrastructure,” the statement said.

The SBU added that it simultaneously weakened Russia’s air defense system. The strikes targeted a Nebo-U radar, a 92N6E multifunction radar used by the S-400 system, a Tor-M2 air defense system, a Pantsir-S2 air defense system, a Pole-21 electronic warfare system, three Podlet-K1 radars and a Kasta-2E2 radar.

The Ukrainian security service said another key focus of the campaign was systematically targeting Russia’s fuel and energy infrastructure.

According to the statement, the SBU struck 14 oil refineries, dozens of oil depots, tank farms, oil pumping stations, oil terminals and an oil production platform.

“Among the most important targets were the St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Volgograd refineries, three refineries in Ufa, the Pervy Zavod complex, the Cherkasy and Subkhankulovo oil pumping stations, as well as the oil production platform at the Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea,” the SBU said.

The statement also said that systematically targeting vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, which are used to circumvent international sanctions, was another important focus of the operation.

The tankers Blue, Louise 1, Banda and Avero were struck. The SBU also hit two cargo ships under international sanctions.