President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday he is setting up a separate special command focused on strikes deep into Russia, and will also create new rapid response forces including assault troops and drones.

Zelenskyy added in his evening address to the nation: 'This command should focus all its available resources to further reduce Russia's ability to wage war.'

The Ukrainian General Staff said on Friday that Ukraine bombed oil refineries, a terminal, and a fuel depot inside Russia, as well as tankers in the Sea of Azov, in a sign that Kyiv does not intend to ease its campaign targeting Russia's energy sector.

The staff added in a Telegram post that the Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, one of the largest refineries in southern Russia, caught fire, and the Ust-Luga oil refining complex in the Leningrad region was also shelled.

The staff said in a statement that an oil terminal and depot in the Rostov region also came under attack, resulting in explosions and fires.

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Russian energy sector under pressure from Ukrainian drones

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After the large-scale Ukrainian campaign that lasted for months and targeted major Russian oil facilities and their associated supply networks, Moscow was forced to ban diesel exports to ensure meeting domestic market needs.

Two energy sector sources and Reuters calculations showed that gasoline production in Russia fell to only about 65 percent of its normal level as a result of those attacks.

According to Robert Brovde, commander of the Ukrainian drone forces, his country also struck 10 tankers in the Sea of Azov, as part of attacks that damaged about 50 fuel-carrying ships this week, as Kyiv seeks to cut fuel supplies to Russian forces and isolate Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014.