Ukraine war: Russian strikes hit railways as US says Moscow 'failing' in war aims

Russian forces have now shifted their focus to the offensive in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

Heavy shelling and fighting have continued in the east and south as Russia's army attempts to establish control over the region.

See our live blog below for the latest updates on the war and related events.

The Emergencies Ministry said a huge blaze at the depot in the city of Bryansk erupted early Monday. Its cause wasn’t immediately clear.

The oil depot is owned by Transneft-Druzhba, a subsidiary of the Russian state-controlled company Transneft that operates the western-bound Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline carrying crude oil to Europe. It wasn’t clear if the depot was part of the pipeline infrastructure and whether the blaze could affect the deliveries.

Russian news reported that another oil storage facility in Bryansk also caught fire early Monday, and that the cause wasn’t immediately known.

Bryansk is located about 100 kilometres north of the border with Ukraine, where Moscow has waged a military campaign for two months. Last month, two Ukrainian helicopter gunships hit an oil reservoir in Russia’s Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, causing a fire.

(AP)

The Russian military has struck a Ukrainian oil refinery along with scores of other targets, the Russian Defence Ministry said Monday.

High-precision sea- and air-based long-range weapons destroyed fuel production facilities of an oil refinery on the northern outskirts of the industrial city of Kremenchuk, as well as storage facilities for oil products to supply military equipment of Ukrainian troops, it said.

The claim could not be independently verified.

Russia also said that its airforce hit 56 military assets overnight on Sunday, including two command posts and 53 areas