Ukraine fired more than 120 drones at Russia overnight, killing one person and damaging apartments and an industrial facility — the same day as President Volodymyr Zelensky said he “fully supports” the latest push for peace.

Drones struck three apartment buildings in the Saratov area, regional Gov. Roman Busargin said, with Ukrainian media reporting that the region’s oil refinery was also hit and engulfed in flames.   

“Several residents required medical assistance,” Busargin said of the retaliatory attack. “Aid was provided onsite, and one person has been hospitalized. Unfortunately, one person has died.”

Local officials did not say how many of the drones hit, but at least eight were intercepted over Saratov, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. 

The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that one of the targets of the attack was the Saratov City oil refinery, which allegedly processes up to 7 million tons of oil for Russia’s war machine.

“Saratov oil refinery is one of the key facilities of the Russian Federation’s fuel infrastructure involved in providing oil products to the occupation troops,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement.

The Rosneft-owned ROSN.MM refinery was forced to suspend operations earlier this year for safety reasons following previous drone attacks, industry sources told Reuters.

Appearing to acknowledge the impact to the residential areas in Saratov, Ukraine claimed its forces take every measure to minimize damage to non-military infrastructure.  

Overall, the Kremlin said it intercepted 121 Ukrainian drones in the overnight attack, a notable increase from the average 97 fired daily in July.

The uptick comes as Kyiv retaliates against Moscow’s ever-escalating drone and missile barrages, with Russia firing a record 6,445 strikes in July, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Despite the latest back-and-forth attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he “values and fully supports” a joint statement by European leaders to end the war, which has raged on for more than three years. 

French, Italian, German, Polish, British, Finnish and European Commission leaders backed President Trump’s efforts to try and end the war, but emphasized the need to provide security guarantees for Kyiv. 

“The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations,” Zelensky wrote on X.

The need to provide guarantees for Ukraine comes after Zelensky and European leaders rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for Kyiv to give up all the land Moscow had taken during the war.  

Zelensky slammed the proposal as a non-starter as he countered with demands that Ukraine be allowed to join NATO, thus securing protection from a future Russian invasion. 

Putin, meanwhile, has rejected such a condition, with pressure to secure a cease-fire building as Trump is set to meet with the Russian strongman later this week.  

With Post wires