At least two individuals lost their lives on Friday when a Russian jet-powered drone struck a petrol station in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The attack injured 12 other people, among them a 12-year-old boy, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that one of the casualties was an emergency responder who sustained injuries during a “double-tap” strike, a tactic involving sequential attacks on the same location. The incident marks a significant escalation in Russia’s recent targeting of civilian energy infrastructure, following what is believed to be the first strike on a Kyiv gas station earlier in the week.
According to Ukrainian data, Russian forces have attacked approximately 300 petrol stations across Ukraine in recent months, with the majority located in or near active combat zones. These strikes are part of a broader strategy utilizing new, high-speed jet drones that are difficult for air defenses to intercept, aimed at disrupting logistics centers, warehouses, and commercial supply chains.
Zelenskyy condemned the assaults on civilian energy sites as increasingly “terrorist in nature” during a statement posted on X. He emphasized the urgent need to enhance sky protection and scale up countermeasures against the drone threat. Bogdan Kukura, CEO of Ukrnafta—the state-owned oil company that operates the targeted station—described the attack as a deliberate strike on civilian facilities with no military objective.
While Moscow has not issued an immediate comment on this specific incident, it has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians. The strikes come more than four and a half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, as ground fighting on the eastern front remains largely stalled. Consequently, both nations have intensified cross-border attacks on economic and logistical targets to undermine the adversary’s war effort.
In retaliation, Ukraine has ramped up drone operations inside Russia. On Friday, two people were killed and three injured in the Tula region, while a separate attack in the Kursk region resulted in one death. Additionally, a Ukrainian drone hit a logistics hub for e-commerce giant Ozon in Saratov, igniting a fire. Kyiv states that these operations against Russian retail and supply infrastructure are justified efforts to disrupt the logistical support for Moscow’s military campaign.
Sad reality: both sides are hitting logistics hubs now. The war has definitely shifted from frontlines to civilian commerce areas.
Thirty hundred petrol stations hit recently? That scale suggests a systematic campaign to dismantle Ukraine’s fuel supply chain entirely.
Is it just me, or does targeting gas stations feel like a deliberate strategy to squeeze ordinary people economically rather than militarily?
Double-tap strikes are ruthless. Targeting emergency responders as they arrive to help adds a cruel layer to this senseless violence.
The mention of a child among the injured is heartbreaking. This escalation against civilian infrastructure is truly terrifying for everyone involved.