Last Untouched Russian Oil Refinery Struck By Ukrainian Drones

Ukrainian drones last night hit the last major Russian oil refinery that it had not yet struck in 2026. 

Aside from the fact that the target was 1,500 kilometers from Ukrainian territory, the attack reveals two other points of importance. First, Russia has been unable to protect any - repeat, any - of the oil production facilities that are the key to its economy. Reports this week indicate that the Ukrainians' damage to Russian oil assets is having a significant impact on global oil supplies and prices as its usual customers, like China and India must now rely on other sources which were already under pressure due to the failed US war against Iran. Secondly, this implies that Ukraine can now strike with impunity almost any target it wants in Russia, in part because Russian resistance movement members are assisting it, with all that infers about Putin's hold on power. JL 

Valentyna Romanenko reports in Ukraine Pravda:

Deep Strike units from Ukraine's Special Operations Forces struck Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, one of Russia's largest oil refining and petrochemical complexes, located in Bashkortostan, on the night of 13-14 July. The targeted complex is located in the city of Salavat, roughly 1,300 to 1,500 kilometers (around 800 to 930 miles) from the Ukrainian border. This strike targeted key production and distillation infrastructure. It follows a series of long-range attacks spanning deep into Russia, including recent strikes on the massive Omsk refinery in Siberia and the Afipsky refinery in the Krasnodar region. The mission was carried out in cooperation with the resistance movement Chornaya Iskra (Black Spark), operating on Russian territory. Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat was the last major petrol producer not yet hit by strikes in 2026. 

Ukraine's New Tactics Threaten Russian Positions In Zaporizhzia, Crimea

Data is destiny. Ukrainian forces, analyzing their success in the past year, have developed tactics that reflect their strengths. They attack with 'clouds' of drones in advance of lightly armed infantry who, when they have identified and pinned down a Russian position, call in heavier machine guns and mortars to be delivered by drones. This saves time, manpower and effort.

And the places where these new movements work best are in the relatively open steppes, which makes Zaporizhzhia and the approaches to Crimea likely targets for a next major offensive, especially after the Ukrainians' success in liberating Dnipropetrovsk. JL

Stefan Korshak reports in the Kyiv Post:

Zaporizhzhia and Crimea are “the most promising” areas for a future Ukrainian offensive because it’s here that Ukraine’s technical edge - small forces of well-trained infantry backed by big masses of tactical drones - get leverage over Russian defenses. The Ukrainians have started concentrating fighting outfits on the Ternuvate--Velyka Novosilka axis (79th, 80th and 95th Air Assault Brigades), which have been beefed up with the 82nd Air Assault and 92nd Mechanized Brigades. Russians troops find themselves under fire from machine guns and grenade launchers ferried to firing positions not on an infantryman’s back, but by drones. If the Russians run then they get hunted down by FPVs, if they stay put they get pinned down by drones and winkled out by Ukrainian infantry. Ukraine's plan is the systematic destruction of Russian fighting capacity on the line and behind the line with drones as a prelude to a ground offensive against weakened resistance.

Dnipropetrovsk Becomes 1st Oblast Cleared By Ukraine of Russian Forces

In a lightning fast counterattack that advanced 25 kilometers, Ukraine's 425th Skelia Assault Regiment liberated the final six settlements held by Russian forces in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, making it the first occupied by the Kremlin's troops to be completely cleared. 

Besides the achievement of advance and liberation itself, this action signifies the decreasing effectiveness of Russian units, which included yet another Naval Infantry Division decimated, and undermines the Kremlin demand that much of Ukraine's southeast become a buffer zone. As it is now back in Ukrainian possession, there is no chance they will give any of it up. JL

Decimus reports in Daily Kos:

As of yesterday, July 13, 2026, Dnipropetrovsk oblast is completely cleared for Russian forces. The 425th Skelia Assault Regiment liberated the final six settlements in Dnipropetrovsk, advancing 25 kilometers into previously occupied territory. The operation inflicted critical losses on Russia’s 120th Naval Infantry Division and 68th Army Corps, the main Russian formations in Dnipropetrovsk. It marks the completion of a counteroffensive that began in late January 2026 and reclaimed over 400 square kilometers, reversing Russian gains made since August 2025. It also puts paid to Russia’s intent to occupy all of Donbas and parts of Southern Ukraine, including Dnipropetrovsk, to establish a “buffer zone”.

Apple's OpenAI Lawsuit Echoes Past Threats To Its Dominance

Apple has done this before. Thrown the high, hard one, the brushback (for those who don't follow American baseball, those are pitches thrown fast and close to the batter's head, intentionally, to intimidate). Apple has had enough of employee poaching, of theft or theft-adjacent behavior that threatens its jealously guarded intellectual property. And which, in turn, protects its dominance. 

Steve Jobs went after everyone: Bill Gates, the Google guys. Everyone. Because he - and now his soon to be retired, hand-picked successor, Tim Cook, understand that to survive, a walled garden like Apple's needs to show its teeth when the prowling pretenders get too close. The issue here is that OpenAI is starting to make noises about moving on from software to hardware, to owning the stack - just like Apple. Others have tried and failed. OpenAI may be just another hungry wannabe. Or maybe more. So you never take anyone for granted. JL

Rolfe Winkler reports in the Wall Street Journal:

In a lawsuit filed Friday, Apple alleged a senior OpenAI executive, who once sat atop Apple’s product design team, was involved in a monthslong campaign to steal Apple trade secrets. Although it isn’t yet clear what evidence the company has to back its claims, the suit lands as the tech industry races to build AI-powered devices. Rivals have long tried to supplant Apple, but Google, Samsung, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon have failed. OpenAI is a new threat. An OpenAI employee used an Apple employee’s login to access Apple servers. Apple also accused OpenAI’s hardware chief, Tang Tan, of soliciting trade secrets from employees interviewing for jobs, and encouraging them to bring “actual parts” from Apple. Friday’s lawsuit echoes ones Apple filed against Android companies beginning in 2010. Perhaps Cook can buy Ternus time by siccing Apple’s lawyers on a top AI rival. But Apple will still have to win the AI device battle.

Ukraine Sea Drone Lands Ground Drone On Kinburn Spit, Attacks Russian Positions

A Ukrainian sea drone landed an armed ground drone on the beach of the Russian-occupied portion of the Kinburn Spit, a peninsula near where the Dnipro River enters the Black Sea.

The ground drone, controlled remotely by Ukrainian troops, then attacked Russian positions on the Spit. What the drones may or may not have accomplished is less important than the fact that the mission was carried out, demonstrating the potential for autonomous warfare, particularly in extremely dangerous environments. JL 

Roman Sheremata reports in his substack:

In  the "first combat mission of this type known," a Ukrainian sea drone delivered a ground drone to Russian-held territory on the Kinburn Spit, Ukraine's 123rd Territorial Brigade said. "A ground-based robot was delivered to the enemy shore by an unmanned sea platform, landed on the occupied territory and performed a combat mission," Russian troops entered the 40-kilometer-long (about 25-mile) Kinburn Spit in March 2022. The spit remains strategically important due to its location, as control of the area has enabled Russian forces to influence access to parts of the Black Sea. Shipping routes from the ports of Kherson and Mykolaiv converge nearby.

Storm Z "Frontline Felon" Units' Fatality or Severe Injury Rates Reach 80-90%

The Kremlin touts convicts who 'volunteer' to serve in the Russian army in Ukraine as 'heroes' who are exchanging guilt for redemption at the front. 

But data reveal that the casualty rates for those units can be as high as 80-90% killed or severely wounded. JL

Mykyta Vorobiev reports in the Center for European Policy Analysis and Reuters reports:

Estimates suggest 200,000 prisoners have so far been mobilized for the Russian Army. The Kremlin has built a public narrative around it. Military service is presented as the only path where violence can be used to exchange guilt for redemption, marginality for social recognition, and prison for freedom. Putin describes former prisoners as heroes, dismissing their offences as “mistakes” that “could happen to any of us.” State-controlled media portray enlistment as a voluntary choice offering purpose, belonging, and a second chance, rather than a response to the realities of Russian prisons or the limited alternatives after release. Combat is presented as a more effective form of correction than prison itself, though prisoners often die in battle, in line with the exceptionally high casualty rates in penal units.

Ukraine Gains Momentum As Local Counterattacks Outflank Russian Operations

Ukrainian forces have gained momentum by employing an age old military tactic: 'hit 'em

where they ain't.' That colloquialism means using reconnaissance and intelligence to attack the enemy where they are weakest or have left gaps in their defensive lines.  

Ukrainian counterattacks have negated Russian gains across the southeast, from Donbas to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, by fighting holding actions against Russian assaults while outflanking those Russian movements, forcing them to either bring up reserves to defend their lodgments or withdraw. The result is that the Kremlin has been unable to achieve any of its objectives on the battlefield so far this year. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art:

The Ukrainians have the momentum in the fight in the southeast. It's one of several axes where Ukrainian forces have the edge. Overall Russian gains have decreased to nearly zero in recent months because the Ukrainians are successfully counterattacking, resulting in a zeroing out of Russian advances. The Ukrainians have turned the tables on the Russians (because) Ukraine has the advantage in the air over the gray zone and over the logistical zone stretching 200 km behind the gray zone (meaning) Ukraine can find times and places to counterattack, even though Russian forces outnumber Ukrainian troops in most sectors. To achieve its strategic aims in Ukraine, Russia must advance. By contrast, Ukraine's own main aim is to survive as an independent state. By those standards, Ukraine has the edge.