Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that his country’s forces had carried out large-scale airstrikes overnight targeting a Russian oil export terminal in Rostov-on-Don, as well as other vital oil facilities in the Yaroslavl and Udmurtia regions. In a post on the X platform, Zelensky stated, “We are implementing our plan for far-reaching sanctions and are working to limit Russia’s ability to finance the war,” emphasizing the effectiveness of the successive Ukrainian strikes in hitting sensitive strategic targets deep inside Russian territory to cripple its military and economic capabilities.
Warnings against deepening military coordination between Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang
In a related development, the Ukrainian president revealed that Moscow is working to deepen military coordination with Tehran, in addition to strengthening its alliances with North Korea and China. In an interview with Sky News, Zelensky explained that North Korea might send approximately 30,000 troops to support the Russian war effort, while Iran could potentially supply Moscow with additional missiles.
When asked whether he was concerned about a potential Iranian attack, Zelensky stressed that Tehran was already involved in the war by supplying Russia with weapons, adding: “We cannot trust these people because, initially, without any escalation on our part, the Iranians supplied weapons.” He emphasized, “We must do everything to avoid opening a new front, but the Iranians and North Koreans have already attacked us.”
Russian-Iranian intelligence monitoring of facilities in the Gulf
Regarding intelligence cooperation, Zelensky wrote on X that Ukraine has detected increased Russian satellite activity over Gulf states and US military installations since the beginning of this month, noting that these images are subsequently provided to Iran to facilitate attacks. He added that there is a “clear link between Russian satellite imagery of these sites and attacks carried out by Iran, both before the attacks during the planning phase and afterward to assess the extent of the damage.”
The Ukrainian president explained that “on July 19 and 20, 2026 alone, Russian satellites focused on four air bases: two in Bahrain, one in Jordan, and one in Kuwait,” emphasizing that the objective was perfectly clear. Zelensky concluded his remarks by saying, “None of us in the world should ignore a very simple fact: evil is always looking for ways to escalate and expand the situation. Russia must be stopped, this war must end, and pressure on the aggressor state must be effective.”
