[Anchor]

The war between Russia and Ukraine has recently intensified once again. Ukraine is carrying out airstrikes on the Russian mainland using long-range drones, while Russia is attacking the Ukrainian capital, leading to an increasing number of civilian casualties.

Kwon Yeongin reports from Paris.

[Reporter]

This is footage released by the Ukrainian military yesterday (July 8).

A drone is seen flying toward and directly striking an oil tanker floating on the sea.

Another tanker, which appears to have already been hit, is seen with flames erupting from its hull.

These tankers are part of what is known as the shadow fleet, vessels used by Russia to secretly transport crude oil while evading sanctions on oil exports.

Ukraine announced that it attacked nine vessels belonging to the Russian shadow fleet near the Crimean Peninsula yesterday alone.

Ukraine, which has recently been launching a fierce offensive against Russia using long-range drones, is focusing its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, including oil refineries.

The day before yesterday (July 7), Ukraine demonstrated its long-range strike capabilities by attacking the Omsk oil refinery, Russia's largest oil refining facility, located 2,700 km away from the border.

The Russian military claimed to have shot down 415 Ukrainian drones over a 12-hour period yesterday. It is reported that Russia is currently experiencing energy shortages due to these Ukrainian attacks, forcing the country to import crude oil from nations such as India.

Russia, which clearly appears to be on the defensive recently, is heavily bombarding the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Yesterday, Russia launched an airstrike on Kyiv using 169 drones and 5 ballistic missiles.

The Ukrainian military stated that while they shot down more than 80% of the drones, they were unable to intercept the ballistic missiles, resulting in the death of one civilian.

Russia has carried out three airstrikes on Kyiv over the past week, and with attacks concentrated on civilian facilities, the death toll has exceeded 60.

As the conflict between the two sides intensifies due to Ukraine's stepped-up offensive, the United States has granted permission for Patriot missiles, which can intercept Russian ballistic missiles, to be produced within Ukrainian territory.