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Several industrial facilities were damaged in the attack in Togliatti, the city’s mayor confirmed
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Ukrainian forces struck a Russian petrochemical plant in Togliatti overnight, Kyiv‘s general staff said on Saturday.
Footage circulating on social media showed thick black smoke rising from the industrial area.
The attack caused an explosion and fire, Ukrainian authorities said on Telegram. Togloatti mayor Ilya Sukhikh said several industrial facilities were damaged in the attack.
The city in western Russia is home to the country’s largest carmaker Avtovaz and major ammonia producer Togliattiazot.
It comes as the White House praised Melania Trump for reportedly securing a ceasefire for the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, where up to 2,000 residents are cut off from world and facing starvation.
Russia agreed to pause all military action in Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway, according to the White House.
The localised ceasefire will begin on October 29.
A post on the White House’s social media account on Friday said: “Our incredible @FLOTUS Melania Trump has forged a ceasefire in war-torn Oleshky. Peace through strength.”
Ukrainian attacks cut power to parts of Crimea and Russian-controlled areas of eastern and southern Ukraine on Saturday, Russia’s energy ministry said.
The strikes hit energy infrastructure, affecting parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, it added.
The ministry did not say how many people had been affected in `those areas and the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Staff were working to restore services and temporary power cuts had been made to keep the grid stable, it added.
The slow abandonment of Kyiv by the world’s richest man and its most powerful will go down as one of the most shameful episodes in America’s post-war foreign policy:
Ukraine’s military has regained full use of Starlink satellite links for its drones and other fast-moving equipment, the defense minister said Saturday, ending speed restrictions that Ukrainian officials said had disrupted front-line operations for more than a week.
The restoration comes as U.S. envoys launched a new push to end the war. Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localized ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump around Oleshky, a war-ravaged, Russian-occupied town in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.
The Defense Ministry’s monitoring systems in Ukraine reported stable connections on objects traveling faster than 400 kph (250 mph), Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara told reporters.
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff secured the latest commitment to talks after shuttling between Oslo, Norway, and St. Petersburg, Russia, this week to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin.
A new round of negotiations would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, following the most recent round in Geneva in February.
A Kremlin spokesman said that the next round of talks is likely to be held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, around mid-November.
Western governments backing the peace initiative are seeking a new formula to break the impasse while acknowledging that territorial and security questions remain unresolved.
US president Donald Trump’s ties with Zelensky, meanwhile, have sunk to a new low.
Moscow has been bolstered by Trump’s deal for Russia to supply the U.S. with diesel and his recent rejection of new Russia sanctions.
Kyiv has been undermined by disruptions in satellite support for its drones after rejecting a call by the U.S. president to halt strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. Ukrainian leaders fear the moves will embolden Putin, giving him little incentive to compromise at the negotiating table.
As Trump increased pressure on Zelensky, accusing him of being an obstacle to peace, Witkoff secured the release of an American who had been jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.
The envoy described the Russian leader as a “humanitarian” at their meeting in St. Petersburg — a remark met with consternation in Ukraine.
Russian prisoners of war released as part of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine arrived in Russia on Friday.
Moscow and Kyiv swapped 270 servicemen each in a latest prisoner exchange, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
A ministry statement said that the returned Russian servicemen are currently in neighboring Belarus, where Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova is “assisting” them.
It added that the servicemen will return to Russia after receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance, and will be transported to Defense Ministry medical facilities for further treatment and rehabilitation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed the swap, the first since August, describing it as a “very important result.”
In a statement on US social media company X, Zelensky said most of those returned to Ukraine had been in captivity since 2022. “We remember one and all and continue searching for everyone. I thank everyone who works to make these exchanges possible.”
The Starlink satellite system and its military version Starshield were again operating at high speeds, Ukraine has said, after over a week of restrictions that disrupted military operations and intensified tensions with the US.
Problems with Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned systems came after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel while pressing Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries.
Ukrainian officials said the restrictions hampered the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations.
“Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence monitoring systems are officially recording the restoration of Starlink/Starshield operating speeds,” the ministry said on the Telegram app.
“Connectivity remains stable at speeds exceeding 400 km per hour,” it added.
When limitations were in place, Ukraine experienced problems trying to operate at speeds over 160 kph. Ukraine does not rely on the systems for long-range drone operations on Russian territory, but Starlink is vital for frontline communications and Starshield is used for military operations in occupied territories.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian petrochemical plant in Togliatti overnight, Kyiv’s general staff said on Saturday.
The attack caused an explosion and fire, it said on the Telegram app.
Togliatti is home to Russia’s largest carmaker Avtovaz and major ammonia producer Togliattiazot.
Togloatti mayor Ilya Sukhikh said several industrial facilities were damaged in the attack.
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