Ukraine Strikes Russian Bomber Base and Oil Refinery as Missile War Intensifies

Deep Strikes Hit Russia's Strategic Heartland

Ukraine launched one of its most strategically significant overnight operations in months, striking a Russian bomber base and a major oil refinery hundreds of miles from the front lines. Ukraine's Defense Forces struck the Saratov Oil Refinery, the Engels strategic air base, an oil depot in Russia's Kaluga region, and several other military targets overnight on August 2 as part of a coordinated campaign against Russia's military and industrial infrastructure.

The Saratov Refinery is one of the largest oil refining enterprises in the Volga region, with a processing capacity of about seven million tons of oil per year. According to Ukraine's General Staff, the facility is involved in supplying Russian forces and its military-industrial complex. In total, the Saratov oil refinery has suffered at least 15 attacks since the start of the full-scale war.

The Engels base hosts Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers that Russia regularly uses to launch long-range cruise missile attacks against Ukraine. Ukraine's forces struck Engels airfield in the Saratov region, about 730 kilometers — roughly 450 miles — southeast of Moscow and over 1,000 kilometers east of Kyiv. Hitting the very aircraft that carry out missile strikes on Ukrainian cities marks a significant escalation in Ukraine's long-range drone campaign.

Russia's Missile Barrage Kills Nine in Kyiv

The Ukrainian strikes came in direct response to a devastating Russian attack. Russian forces launched 35 missiles, most of them ballistic, and nearly 190 drones of various types at Ukraine during the night of August 1. The primary targets were Kyiv and the Kyiv region. At least nine people were killed and 40 were injured. The victims included four children, authorities reported.

A shortage of Patriot interceptors allowed 26 Russian ballistic missiles to strike Ukraine early that Saturday morning, killing nine in Kyiv. The air defense gap is not a new problem — it has been growing for months — but the human cost is becoming impossible to ignore. During the past 24 hours, Ukraine's Defense Forces also engaged Russian troops in 193 combat clashes, with the largest number of enemy attacks recorded in the Pokrovsk sector.

Trump's Patriot Reversal Leaves Kyiv Exposed

The timing of the missile shortage crisis collides awkwardly with a major diplomatic setback from Washington. President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. "has not agreed" to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missile systems, apparently backtracking on one of Kyiv's top priorities in its war against Russia. The advanced military technology is "a hard thing to give away," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, adding that a country that receives it could "someday turn on you."

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Olha Stefanishyna, said producing PAC-3 missiles in Ukraine could take 12 months to five years. She said Ukraine also needs missiles now to get through intensified strikes and the approaching winter. The reversal is particularly significant because Patriot interceptors have become one of Ukraine's most urgent military requirements as Russia increasingly relies on ballistic missile attacks. Shortages have been compounded by heavy U.S. expenditure of interceptors in other conflicts, with analysis suggesting the Pentagon has already used roughly two-thirds of its Patriot inventory.

A War Expanding in Every Direction

The economic front is widening too. Goods on major Russian e-commerce platforms like Wildberries and Ozon have increased in price by up to 30% following extensive Ukrainian drone strikes on logistics facilities. The attacks have contributed to a fuel shortage in the aggressor country, forcing Russia to import fuel for domestic consumption. Ukraine is methodically dismantling the supply chains that keep Russia's war machine running.

Total combat losses among Russian troops since the start of the full-scale invasion — from February 24, 2022, to August 2, 2026 — amount to approximately 1,449,120 personnel. Russian forces suffered their highest personnel losses of 2026 in July, with 42,860 troops killed or wounded. Those are staggering numbers, and they suggest Russia is burning through manpower at a pace that no amount of mobilization can easily replace. With U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner expected to visit Kyiv in the second half of August , the coming weeks may bring renewed diplomatic pressure — but on the ground and in the skies, both sides show no sign of pulling back.