Ukraine strikes Russian oil refinery as Zelenskyy calls for Moscow to end war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to pose for a family photo before a cultural performance and concert during the G7 Summit on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein-Pool/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The Ukrainian military struck a Russian oil refinery in Ufa on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Kyiv continues its pressure campaign seeking to push Russia to end the war.
“This is an entirely just response to everything Russia is doing against us,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “Peace is needed, and this is exactly what Russia’s leadership must realize. Russia must end its war.”
The Russian Defense Ministry did not appear on Wednesday to publicly comment on the attack, but said in a message on Telegram that its forces had shot down or otherwise destroyed at least 179 Ukrainian drones over Russian or Russian-occupied territory overnight.
The refinery, which Zelenskyy said was one of Russia’s largest producers of lubricants, sits more than 1,300 km, or about 800 miles, from the frontline.
Ukraine overnight also launched an aerial strike at a military complex in the Penza region, where Russia develops and manufactures components related to missiles, Zelenskyy said.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said the target was an aerospace facility known by its Russian acronym, NIIFI. The site is used to build sensors for some cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as satellite components, Ukraine said.
“Hits and smoke were recorded at the facility,” the General Staff said in a Ukrainian-language update posted on social media. “This is a leading Russian enterprise in the field of space, aviation and military instrument-making.”
Expedition 75 Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina (top), NASA astronaut Anil Menon (C) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch on July 14, 2026, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A NASA astronaut blasted off from a launch site in Kazakhstan Tuesday along with two Russian cosmonauts as part of a mission to the International Space Station.
Anil Menon launched aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome site around 10:47 a.m. ET along with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
This marks Menon’s first space flight, and the second flight for the Russian cosmonauts, according to NASA.
The space craft is scheduled to dock with the station around 1:56 p.m. ET, according to NASA.
Once aboard the station, they will join up with the members of Expedition 74 crew, three NASA astronauts, one European Space Agency astronauts and three cosmonauts, who have been on the station conducting scientific experiments.
Menon, Dubrov and Kikina’s mission will last about eight months and they are scheduled to return to Earth in April 2027.
Menon will “conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth,” according to NASA.
That includes research into production of semiconductor crystals in space, and testing augmented reality and artificial intelligence tools for medical support in space, NASA said.
“He will be a test subject helping researchers understand how blood flow is affected in space to protect future astronauts. He also will test bioprinting vascular constructs in microgravity to improve understanding of the aging process to advance therapeutic developments,” the agency added.
A sign is displayed out the Ministry of Defence headquarters, May 7, 2024, in London. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — A Russian Navy vessel fired warning shots at a U.K.-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday, the Russian military confirmed, saying the civilian boat was making a “dangerous approach” toward the warship.
The incident was reported midday Tuesday about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside U.K. territorial waters.
The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich detected the U.K. yacht “proceeding under engine power on a dangerous course that would bring it into close proximity with the warship,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Russian defense ministry said the frigate’s crew attempted to make radio contact with the yacht, launched signal flares and emitted sound signals, but the boat “continued its dangerous approach.”
When the two vessels were about 150 meters apart, the frigate’s commander fired warning shots “from small arms across the yacht’s course,” at which point the yacht immediately changed course away from the warship, the Russian defense ministry said.
“The crew of the Admiral Grigorovich acted in strict accordance with international navigation rules and took all necessary measures to prevent an incident,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
The British military is investigating the incident after the yacht alleged that the Russian warship fired warning shots nearby at a distance of approximately 500 yards (about 457 meters).
The Royal Navy patrol ship HMS MERSEY was monitoring the Russian vessel at the time, ABC News understands.
A seaboat from HMS MERSEY visited the yacht to gather more information and confirm those on board are safe. No injuries or damage have been reported and the yacht is continuing on its journey.
A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense told ABC News they are “investigating reports of an incident in the Channel.”
The incident comes a day after the U.K.’s Royal Navy led an interdiction of a tanker, the Smyrtos, sanctioned for being part of Russia’s shadow fleet, in the English Channel.
The U.K.’s defense ministry is viewing Tuesday’s reported incident as isolated and not linked to the interception, ABC News understands.
Soldiers rescue a worker alive from a tunnel during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli-3A hydropower project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, Sept. 4, 2026. (Nepal Army)
LONDON — Two people have been rescued from a hydropower tunnel at the Trishuli 3A construction site, Nepal’s Army confirmed Friday after posting videos and images from the scene on Facebook.
Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane, an engineer who has been involved in the search operations, also posted about the two rescues on his Facebook page, including photos and videos from the scene.
He identified the two workers rescued as Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan.
In an earlier Facebook post, Neupane said rescuers had heard voices from people trapped inside the tunnel.
“It has been confirmed that more than one person’s voice has been heard from inside,” Neupane wrote in the post. “When the rescue team said, ‘Don’t panic, we are rescuing,’ a response of ‘yes’ was received from inside.”
After being rescued, Sah, a mechanical foreman, said in a video published by the Nepali Army on Friday that his responsibility was to save the lives of the others in the tunnel because he was in the control room.
“I told everyone that there was a big accident on the big dam, and asked everyone to run and in the end, I ran out of time and could not run out,” Sah said in the video, which was translated from Nepali.
At least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A hydropower projects along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the tunnel, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal.
Nepal’s Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful that more workers will be rescued. “We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Timilsina wrote on his Facebook page.
Sah said there seemed to be three or four more people still stuck in the tunnel, and possibly even more, as the tunnel is long and some may have been swept deeper inside.
Holding onto hope, Sah said he was chanting mantras while he was trapped.
The death toll following last week’s unprecedented flash flood at the Nepal-Tibet border has climbed to 1,287, with an additional 4,216 people believed to still be missing as of Thursday, officials said.
Those figures increased from 1,114 deaths and 3,916 missing people, respectively, a day earlier, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Management Authority.
Chinese state media have reported an additional 16 deaths and 546 missing people in Tibet, bringing the total death toll to 1,268 and the number of missing people on both sides of the border to 4,762.
Relief and rescue efforts are continuing, with almost all communication towers restored and nearly 12,000 people rescued through international and domestic aid.
Additionally, almost 21,500 security personnel have been mobilized in an effort to speed up search and rescue operations, with more than 5,000 people receiving treatment for injuries, officials said.
Nepali Prime Minister Shah said earlier this week that his government would begin focusing on “rehabilitation” as the length of time since the initial disaster grows.
