Ukraine creates'long-range' command to step up strikes on Russia Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicles hit what the Ukranian military say was a Russian tanker during a strike at a location given as Sea of Azov in this screenshot taken from video released Thursday. Kyiv - Ukraine is setting up a "long-range impact" command within its armed forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Kyiv's campaign against Russian energy and logistics has forced Moscow to ban diesel exports and restrict shipping near the Sea of Azov, which abuts the Black Sea. For months, Ukrainian attack drones have been targeting key energy infrastructure thousands of kilometers across Russia in what Kyiv casts as long-range sanctions against the primary contributor to Russia's state budget, backing its war effort. In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported strikes almost daily, with officials saying it is only fair to bring the war to Russia more than four years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Smoke rises from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow last month. Kremlin insiders say recent Ukrainian strikes have strengthened Russian President Vladimir Putin's resolve to keep fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv, three sources close to the Kremlin said, with Ukraine's recent drone strikes on Russia's oil refineries and ports strengthening his resolve to keep fighting for now. Two of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Putin was instead likely to escalate the conflict, now well into its fifth year. One of them, who meets regularly with the president, described a "high probability" of escalation in the coming months.

Is the war entering a new phase? The overpriced gas Anatoly has been buying in recent weeks in Moscow will ruin his white Kia's engine. "It's low-quality," the taxi driver told Al Jazeera withholding his last name for security purposes. "The engine already sounds like a sick heart The government allows a'temporary decrease in quality,' but what am I to do when I need new spare parts" that are barely available because of Western sanctions, he asked rhetorically. They don't knock, they kick the door," said the 49-year-old with a three-day stubble and bloodshot eyes. Russia's top military brass has not commented on Ukraine's assaults. But even the Kremlin's most outspoken supporters have changed their once-triumphant tune. "We have to get ready for hardships and self-sacrifice," Vladimir Solovyov, a popular talk show host on the Rossiya 1 television network, said in mid-June. Solovyov has a penchant for aggressive, loud monologues and military-style attire. He once urged the Kremlin to "erase" Ukrainian cities with nuclear strikes and said that Kyiv and its Western allies "serve the prince of darkness." Military bloggers are even more pessimistic because of their proximity to the frontline. One of them, Prizrak Novorossii (The Ghost of New Russia), wrote on Telegram in late June that the Kremlin should conduct a massive mobilisation campaign because Russians already "foresee big changes and possible cataclysms because of, to put it mildly, the unfavourable dynamics of hostilities." The reason is simple - outmanned Ukrainians use "an asymmetrical tactic of long-range drone strikes with technological solutions that Russia is only catching up on," he wrote. "So, the question isn't about whether or not to have mobilisation, but about how to conduct it," the blogger concluded, adding that recent events "inspire little optimism." 'I'm afraid my son will be drafted' "I'm afraid my son will be drafted, but we don't have money to send him abroad," Kseniya, a mother of two from the western city of Tula, told Al Jazeera. She withheld her last name and personal details for security purposes. "We've been told a thousand times that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin brought stability, and instead, we see total chaos.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukrainian officials say at least four people have been killed and 10 injured in the latest Russian attacks, a day after Moscow hit Kyiv in the deadliest series of attacks this year. In the bordering Sumy region, two women, an elderly man and a toddler were killed and three others injured after a Russian drone hit a residential apartment building, Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration, said on Friday. Two of the injured women remain in hospital, said Vilkul, adding that nine apartment blocks, a school building, a company, several shops, garages and about 10 vehicles were damaged. Two residential buildings were also cut off from the gas supply.

Smoke rises during a Russian missile strike on Kyiv on Thursday. Kyiv - Russian missile and drone strikes rocked Kyiv early on Thursday, setting off fires and wounding at least five people, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was preparing a "massive attack." Russia has routinely launched waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, during its more than four-year invasion, which has become Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. The attack came after the Ukrainian air force warned that ballistic missiles were headed toward the capital and followed Zelenskyy cutting short a visit to Dublin Wednesday, citing intelligence reports of an impending Russian strike. Journalists in central and eastern Kyiv heard more than a dozen explosions and saw residents -- some with children and pets -- rushing into metro stations being used as shelters. "Kyiv is under attack from ballistic missiles and UAVs," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, adding that blasts could be heard across the city.

In Russia, the impact of Ukraine's missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure from Moscow to the Black Sea and beyond has long been evident. Drivers in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea banned from filling their tanks so priority can be given to military vehicles. But such is the gravity of the situation it has now been explicitly acknowledged by President Vladimir Putin for the first time. Over the weekend, Russia's president discussed the crisis with senior officials and oil executives. And in public remarks, he was unusually frank. You're well aware that problems persist for both motorists and businesses, he told the meeting.

Is the war entering a new phase? It was, perhaps, Ukraine's quietest victory over Russia's oldest and closest ally. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged neighbouring Belarus to shut down four Moscow-installed relay stations that help guide Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. The stations - originally cellular communication towers - relay signals for Russian drone operators and allow their unmanned aircraft to exchange information with each other and fly deep into western Ukraine, which has few drone interceptors and NATO-supplied air defence systems. The relayers did "make the signal stronger" and the Russian attacks "more precise", Andriy Pronin, one of the pioneers of drone warfare in Ukraine, told Al Jazeera.

Is the war entering a new phase? Russia-Ukraine war: Why has Putin rejected limits on long-range strikes? Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will continue its more than four-year-long war on Ukraine, rejecting Kyiv's proposals to limit the use of long-range missiles and stop hostilities. In an interview with Russia's state television service on Sunday, Putin said Ukraine had proposed a mutual halt to long-range attacks as a step towards peace. But the Russian president suggested this proposal was made because Kyiv's forces were under pressure along the 1,250km (775-mile) front line.

Is the war entering a new phase? Russia has reported that it downed 660 drones overnight, as Ukraine maintains a barrage that is straining Russian air defences and energy infrastructure. The number of drones shot down marks one of Kyiv's biggest launches of long-range strikes, Russia's Ministry of Defence stated on Friday. That has stoked concern that Moscow may try to pull ally Belarus into the conflict, launched when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The latest wave of Ukrainian drones saw Russia intercept unmanned aircraft over 13 regions, including the capital, Moscow, and the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula, as well as the Black and Azov seas.

Smoke rises from Crimea Bridge on Monday. The Ukrainian army is pounding supply routes and striking energy facilities across Crimea. Warsaw - For Yulia, a 23-year-old resident of Crimea, nights have become sleepless due to increased Ukrainian drone attacks on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv's army is pounding supply routes and striking energy facilities across the Black Sea territory -- a campaign it sees as fair retribution for Moscow's daily barrages of Ukrainian cities, and one that it hopes will turn the tide of the four-year war in its favor. On Thursday, the Moscow-installed governor of Crimea announced power cuts across the peninsula, which despite the war had been a popular holiday destination for Russians. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.