🔗 Share this article Recent Refinery Assault Demonstrates 'Absolutely No Safe Places in Russia's Deep Rear' Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have struck the Russian Bashneft processing plant in the city of Ufa, located approximately 1,400 km from the Ukrainian border, resulting in detonations and a inferno, according to a source in Ukraine's SBU. This represents the latest SBU long-range attack in Bashkortostan in the past month. Such strikes show that there are no safe places in the deep rear of the Russia. Zelenskyy Appeals to US President to Broker Truce in the Conflict The Ukrainian leader urged President Trump to mediate a ceasefire in Ukraine over a phone call on the weekend. "Provided that a war can be stopped in one region, then certainly additional conflicts can be halted as well, covering the conflict with Russia," he said, praising Trump's "remarkable" Middle East truce proposal and calling for the US president to compel the Russian government into talks. Russian Assaults Kill Lives in Ukraine Strikes by Russia on Ukrainian territory killed at least five people on the weekend and cut power to sections of the south Odesa region, according to local sources. Two people were killed within a church in the town when it was hit, per regional officials. In the Russian adjacent territory of Belgorod, a vehicle operator was killed by a Ukrainian strike, per municipal sources. Energy Restoration Efforts in the Capital Operations continued on Saturday to recover electricity in Kyiv, after Russian attacks. Electricity had been restored to over 800,000 citizens by Saturday and the largest private energy company announced the key efforts to recover electricity was concluded though some outages persisted. Anti-Aircraft Operations and Drone Downings Ukraine's defense forces intercepted or jammed fifty-four of 78 total Russian drones deployed targeting the country during the night, the military said on Saturday. Russia's defense officials claimed it shot down forty-two UAVs from Ukraine over the country's airspace. Cuban Government Denies Allegations of Providing Forces to the War Havana on the weekend denied US allegations it has sent military personnel to participate in the conflict in Ukraine, while declaring officials in Havana "are without exact data about Cuban nationals" participating "on their own" or "within the troops of either party". The government department in the capital said twenty-six Cubans had been sentenced to prison terms from 5 to 14 years for participating as mercenaries since the autumn of 2023 when news circulated of Cuban nationals being deployed to the frontlines in the conflict. Surrender Initiative Project Discloses Data on Cuban National Enlistment The program, a state initiative that promotes enemy combatants to give up, stated in spring: "Our information indicates the personal data of one thousand and twenty-eight individuals who entered into agreements with the Russian armed forces in the past two years." The Cuban authorities said of those who might be involved: "It is irrefutable that not a single one have the support, allegiance, or approval of the Cuban authorities for their actions." Kin of individuals who departed to Russia in the year informed Agence France-Presse at the time that their family members had been misled into enlisting through ads on digital networks.