UKRAINE launched fresh strikes on Russian energy sites today, Russian authorities and media reported.

Drone debris set fire to a fuel storage facility in Russia’s south-western Rostov region, Governor Yuriy Slyusar reported.

The drones also damaged civilian infrastructure in Saratov province, also in south-west Russia, according to Busargin. Astra, an independent Russian news channel, said an oil refinery was on fire in the regional capital, Saratov.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil and gas facilities in recent months, arguing the energy sector both funds and directly fuels Moscow’s invasion, now in its fifth year.

This comes days after the support of the Ukrainian regime for a far-right military unit was called out by Poland.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced plans on Friday to strip his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honour.

This followed the Ukrainian president naming a military unit after a Nazi collaborator group which organised massacres of ethnic Poles during World War II.

Nawrocki said: “Unfortunately, Zelensky has shown that Ukraine, in terms of mentality – glorifying bandits, murderers from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army – is not ready to be part of the European family.

“Because in the European family, you cannot glorify bandits [who] murdered women and children, murdered Poles.”