Ukrainian drones blow up Russian ship carrying Iranian UAV parts, hit oil refinery ahead of Trump-Putin meet

Ahead of the high-stakes Meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska to discuss the end of the war with Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky's country has amped up attacks against Russia. Ukrainian forces carried out a precision strike on the Olya seaport in Russia’s Astrakhan region, hitting a ship reportedly carrying Iranian-supplied Shahed drone components and ammunition, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed in a statement on Friday (Aug 15). Additionally, Ukrainian drones also hit Syzran oil refinery in Samara Oblast of Russia. The attack comes hours before the scheduled meeting between top US and Russian leaders in Alaska.

The operation was reportedly conducted on August 14 by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) in coordination with other branches of the Defence Forces. Ukraine said it was aimed at disrupting Russia’s ability to launch aerial attacks using Iranian UAVs.

Port Olya, situated on the Caspian Sea, plays a critical role as a logistics hub for the import of military supplies from Iran to Russia. The targeted vessel, identified as Port Olya 4, was reportedly loaded with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) parts and munitions. A battle damage assessment (BDA) is currently underway to determine the full extent of the strike’s impact.

Earlier on Thursday night, Ukraine also launched drone attacks on southern Russian cities. A drone strike in Rostov-on-Don injured 13 people, while attacks in Belgorod injured three and killed one person in the village of Pristen. Russian regional officials confirmed the incidents.

Trump-Putin Alaska meet

It was confirmed on Friday (Aug 8) that Trump will meet with Putin on August 15 to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The US had proposed a tri-party meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelensky, but Putin expressed his reservations about the same. Trump has said that he would know within two minutes of the meeting with Putin if he is interested in ending the Russia-Ukraine war. The White House also said that meeting with Putin will be a ‘listening exercise’ for the US president. Moreover, a day ahead of the scheduled meeting in Alaska, Trump said that there is a 25 per cent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting, while emphasising that both leaders would have to meet a second time for a deal to be done. Notably, this will be the first in-person summit between Trump and Putin after their last meeting at the Helsinki Summit in 2018 in Finland. They met briefly at the 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka, but no formal summit was held.