Russian refineries go up in flames as Europe faces chilling WW3 alert
Ukraine’s drones turned Russian refineries into fireballs for a second night running as leaders warn that Europe may be edging closer to the horrors of a third world war
Ukraine’s war-planners smashed the Kremlin’s refineries in a second night of drone attacks but the British government is now warning that we could soon be on a war-footing amid the looming threat of a third world war.
Ukraine launched a pre-dawn onslaught on Russia ’s oil industry on Friday, reports the Daily Mirror. Kyiv’s drones torched one of Moscow’s top refineries in a bid to burn Putin’s cash for his bloody war on Ukraine.
But as this latest escalation unfolded, UK Minister for the Armed Forces and war veteran Al Carns warned: “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more…. That’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it.” The chilling message echoed NATO chief Mark Rutte’s earlier warning that we must prepare for war “like our grandparents endured”.
Ukraine earlier hit the Russian city of Yaroslavl in its latest onslaught to empty Vladimir Putin’s war-chest. Residents reportedly heard around seven explosions before seeing a bright glow and thick smoke rising from the area of the Yaroslavnefteorgsintez refinery.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure since July, aiming to disrupt oil refining and fuel production to sap the Kremlin’s ability to wage war. The depot is ranked among Russia’s top five oil-processing plants.
The strike on Yaroslavl comes less than 24 hours after Ukraine carried out its biggest drone attack of the full-scale war. The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched close to 300 drones of various types on Thursday, along with cruise missiles, hitting targets across western and central Russia, a stretch of nearly 1,500 miles.
About one-fifth of the drones flew directly toward Moscow, circling above the capital for hours and forcing air-defence units into a frantic overnight operation. All four airports around the capital were locked down, leaving 130 flights cancelled and thousands stranded.
The attack came as Ukraine denied it had approved peace plans that would turn part of the disputed Donbas region into a demilitarised “buffer zone”. Kyiv was reported to have agreed in principle to a demilitarized zone on both sides of the current Donbas front line, allegedly backed by European leaders and included in a revised US peace plan.
The European Union may bankroll Ukraine’s war effort for two years by using frozen Russian assets to underwrite a huge wartime loan. EU leaders will next week assess how to use the tens of billions of euros in Russian Central Bank assets to issue to the loan.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin’s closest ally in Europe, accused the European Commission “of systematically raping European law.” A total of £184 billion in Russian assets are frozen in Europe.
Almost all this cash is held in Euroclear, a Belgian financial clearing house. The money was frozen under sanctions the EU imposed on Moscow over the war it launched on February 24 2022, but the sanctions must be renewed every six months.
All 27 member countries must approve them. Hungary and Slovakia oppose providing more support to Ukraine. Mr Orban said it means “the rule of law in the European Union comes to an end, and Europe’s leaders are placing themselves above the rules.”
“The European Commission is systematically raping European law. It is doing this in order to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that clearly isn’t winnable,” he wrote.
Hungary, he said, “will do everything in its power to restore a lawful order”. A 28-point peace plan drafted by US and Russian envoys stipulated that the EU would release the frozen assets for use by Ukraine, Russia, and the United States. That plan was rejected by Ukraine and its backers in Europe.
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