Ukraine Attacks Russian Airport and Several Oil Storage Facilities

On Saturday, August 13, the Ukrainian army announced that it had attacked the "Morozovsk" airport in the Rostov region and several oil storage facilities in Russia. According to a statement from the Ukrainian army reported by Reuters, the attack on Morozovsk airport on the night of August 12 destroyed an ammunition depot that housed guided bombs and other weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on the messaging platform Telegram that Ukraine must target Russian warplanes wherever they are located. He added that attacking Russian airports is entirely fair and that Ukraine needs the cooperation of its partners to achieve an appropriate "security solution." Zelensky has repeatedly urged his Western allies to agree to Ukraine's attacks on military targets near the Russian border, as well as on deeper Russian territory. On Saturday, he mentioned that Russian forces used over 600 guided bombs to attack Ukraine in the past week. According to the Ukrainian army's report, at least two oil tanks were destroyed in the attacks on oil storage facilities in the Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov regions of Russia. In Russia, local officials reported that a fuel storage depot in the "Kamensky" area of Rostov caught fire due to a Ukrainian drone attack. The governor of the Belgorod region also stated that the Ukrainian drone attacks caused a fire in an oil storage depot but resulted in no casualties. Ukraine has increased its use of long-range drones to attack Russian oil facilities in recent months, aiming to damage the economic centers that finance Russia's war machine. Additionally, there was a report of a Russian drone attack on a bus in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, injuring six workers. Russian forces have been advancing in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The first batch of American-made F-16 fighter jets has been delivered to Ukraine, and a new military aid package from the U.S. to Ukraine amounts to one billion seven hundred million dollars.