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Ukraine continues its long-range strike campaign against Russia’s fuel refineries as the Russo-Ukrainian war continues to escalate. About a week ago, Ukraine struck one of Russia’s largest fuel refineries, the Omsk refinery, located around 2,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Consequently, the Russian Federation has been hit by an ongoing fuel crisis that has severely affected motorists nationwide. Russian analysts expect the shortages to last until around September, when most damaged refineries will likely finish repairs.

The U.S. military will reimpose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday following a week of renewed fighting with Iran, U.S. Central Command announced Monday afternoon.
CENTCOM officials confirmed the blockade hours after President Donald Trump announced the measure, along with a note that the U.S. would charge all cargo traffic passing through the waterway a toll for providing what the president termed “the job of providing safety and security” in the waterway. The blockade of traffic “entering and exiting Iranian ports” will restart at 4 p.m.

With the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) once again closed to shipping because of the renewed hostilities between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran (over control of the SoH), an unprecedented volume of crude from normal trade was met by inventories, rerouting, and falling demand, cushioning the shock. Today, the challenge is no longer about finding crude oil. It’s a transportation problem that is creating an energy shock.

When the SoH first closed after the outbreak of the Iran War in February, many analysts predicted that crude oil would rocket to unprecedented levels.

On Monday, 13 July, Ukraine attacked Moscow with waves of drones for the second day in a row. The attack is part of a 40-day pressure campaign or “influence operation” announced at the end of June by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. These intense and sustained attacks are aimed at degrading Russia’s military logistics and economic stability by destroying critical infrastructure targets deep behind the front lines.

But in parallel, Kyiv is also fighting a war of nerves against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the elites around him.

Marine Corps veteran and entrepreneur Jerry Shaffer was attending a veterans’ social in Clearwater, Florida. Among the dozens of people at the event was Michelle, a woman from the Bronx, who told him that her husband spent 24 years in the Army and retired in nearby Tampa. Four years later, he took his own life, leaving her alone with twins.
Also Read: Reports show a military spouse commits suicide every 8 days
Five years after his suicide, she still hadn’t talked to anyone about it.
Michelle didn’t know what benefits she or her children might be entitled to.

Ukraine’s Drone Assault Is Making Targets Russia Can’t Defend: Ukraine keeps on expanding its long-range drone and missile campaign, graduating from occasional successful raids that served as a proof of concept into a full-scale, constant barrage of drones and missiles inside Russian territory. Russia is now feeling the pressure with its fuel distribution logistics and refineries under constant assault, leaving Moscow to defend a growing number of targets stretching from Siberia to the Sea of Azov.

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.American coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

The Iran War is back on again, it seems. Over the weekend, the United States pummeled nearly 200 Iranian targets across the massive country. Iran retaliated by hitting US military facilities throughout the Gulf Arab states. All this came after US President Donald J. Trump declared that his temporary ceasefire, which lasted barely 18 days, was “over.” He referred to the Islamic Republic as “scum.”

Since then, the war has resumed–with Trump insisting that the United States will take full control over the contested Strait of Hormuz (SoH).

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that renewed fighting between the United States and Iran could prolong the global energy crisis after hopes of recovery under last month’s ceasefire unraveled. The central issue remains the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG exports normally transit. The fighting has once again disrupted shipping—threatening energy supplies, fueling inflation, and undermining the world’s broader economic stability.

Fuel Production in Russia Is Only 65 Percent of Demand: Russian gasoline production fell to a level equivalent to only around 65 percent of the seasonal average consumption after Ukrainian drone attacks led to stoppages at large oil refineries, according to a report from Reuters.

The daily deficit of 40,000 to 45,000 metric tons is causing long lines at gas stations and fuel shortages across the country.

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