Zelenskyy creates new long-range strike command and rapid response forces in Ukraine’s military
Zelenskyy announced the creation of a new long-range forces command (Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees creating a new Long-Range Impact Command and Joint Rapid Response Forces within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he said on social media July 10.
Decree No. 593/2026 on the creation of the Long-Range, or Global, Impact Command was published on the Presidential Office website.
The new command is intended to concentrate all available resources to strengthen Ukraine’s long-range impact on Russia, Zelenskyy said.
“This command must focus 100% of available resources on reducing Russia’s war potential even more significantly,” Zelenskyy said.
The officer leading this area must be “strong and maximally experienced,” he added.
Zelenskyy also announced the transformation of Ukraine’s assault forces.
The changes are necessary because of existing problems, including the treatment of servicemembers, he said.
Law enforcement agencies are already taking procedural steps, while personnel and structural changes will also be made at the command level of the assault forces, Zelenskyy said.
The president also signed a decree creating the Joint Rapid Response Forces, a new component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine intended to combine the capabilities of assault units, unmanned systems, artillery and other means for rapid response on the front line.
Zelenskyy named Hero of Ukraine and Brig. Gen. Dmytro Voloshyn as commander of the Joint Rapid Response Forces.
Voloshyn, who currently commands the 8th Corps of Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces, must ensure the further development of the Armed Forces’ capabilities in this area, Zelenskyy said.
Earlier on July 10, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian long-range drones had struck a number of strategic facilities inside Russia over the past week, including the Omsk Oil Refinery.
There is now no Russian oil refinery that Ukrainian weapons cannot reach, Zelenskyy said.
Strikes on Russian oil refineries: What is known
Ukrainian forces have struck 15 Russian oil refineries since the beginning of the year, knocking out nearly 40% of Russia’s primary oil refining capacity as of May, Zelenskyy said June 1.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck 11 Russian oil refineries in June.
Russian oil refineries have been hit at least 194 times since the beginning of 2026, 11 times more than during the same period in 2025, it became known July 5.
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed a strike on the Omsk Oil Refinery, located nearly 2,500 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, on July 6.
It was the last of Russia’s 11 largest gasoline producers that had not yet been hit by Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
The Omsk Oil Refinery is also Russia’s most powerful refinery and has one of the country’s highest oil refining depth rates, at about 99%.
Fires broke out at oil depots in Tver and Russia’s Stavropol Krai after drone attacks overnight on July 9, while Russian authorities confirmed fires at “industrial facilities.”
Drones also attacked Leningrad Oblast on July 9. Monitoring channel Supernova+ reported a likely strike on the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Kirishi.
The Saratov Oil Refinery halted oil processing, it became known July 9.
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