Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones strike oil pumping station in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, General Staff says

Prefer on Google by Yuliia Taradiuk An oil pumping station in Krymsk, Krasnodar Krai, which was struck by Ukrainian Armed Forces on April 9, 2026. (Astra / Telegram) Key developments on April 9: An oil pumping station in Krymsk, Krasnodar Krai, was struck by Ukrainian drones overnight on April 9, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed. The strike sparked a fire at the facility, the General Staff said , adding that the extent of the damage is being assessed. Independent Telegram channel Astra reported that an electrical substation on the territory of the Krymskaya oil pumping station caught fire as a result of the strike. Residents reported hearing several explosions during the drone attack and that a power outage followed. In the nearby village of Sauk-Dere, one person was killed, Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said without commenting on the oil pumping station. Kondratyev claimed that drone debris fell on a field in the suburbs of Krymsk and on the territory of an "enterprise." Russia plans to increase the size of its Unmanned Systems Forces by about 60 percent, aiming for a total of 165,500 by the end of 2026, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 9. "The enemy is not standing still," Syrskyi said in a Facebook post, where he outlined the performance of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and their impact on the battlefield. Russia's Unmanned Systems Forces currently stand at 101,000, Syrskyi said, citing Ukraine's intelligence data. In the current drone-dominated phase of the war, Ukraine and Russia are racing to expand their Unmanned Systems Forces by increasing personnel numbers and developing long-range drones and ground robotic systems to gain an advantage. Syrskyi said that the Ukrainian military is preventing Russia from launching a large-scale offensive, with drone units as one of the key factors, which he said are "currently inflicting the most widespread and effective damage on the enemy." Washington is ignoring evidence of Russia helping Iran in the war with the U.S. because it "trusts" Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on The Rest is Politics podcast interview, as reported on April 9. "I said this publicly. Did we hear a reaction from the U.S. to Russia that they have to stop it?" Zelensky asked . "The problem is they trust Putin." Ukraine has repeatedly said Moscow is providing Tehran with intelligence , including to aid strikes against Israeli energy facilities amid hostilities in the Middle East, which de-escalated after a ceasefire brokered earlier this week. U.S. media previously reported that Russia is helping Iran attack U.S. military assets in the region, though American officials have publicly downplayed the significance of such cooperation. The Ukrainian leader said the U.S. is failing to understand Moscow's objectives. The reason is that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spend "too much time" with Putin and Russian officials, he noted. The British government announced on April 9 that it had successfully intercepted a Russian military operation near critical underwater infrastructure in UK waters. A Russian attack submarine entered British waters with the aim to distract the country’s armed forces, the British government said. Other vessels belonging to the Russian military's Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research (GUGI) were found "conducting nefarious activity over critical undersea infrastructure elsewhere," reads a press statement from the British government. Along with allies, namely Norway, the UK government says it made known to all Russian vessels that they were being monitored, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government’s policy is to expose publicly all such activities. "To Putin, I say this: we see you, we see your activity over our underwater infrastructure. You should know that any attempt to damage it will not be tolerated and would have serious consequences," UK Defense Minister John Healey said. Russia has returned the bodies or remains of 1,000 fallen soldiers to Ukraine during the latest repatriation exchange, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on April 9. Ukraine has returned the bodies of 41 fallen Russian soldiers in exchange, the Kremlin-controlled TASS news agency reported on April 9, citing its source. The Coordination Headquarters said that law enforcement investigators and the Interior Ministry's expert agencies will conduct examinations to identify the repatriated individuals before handing them over to their families for burial. The latest repatriation exchange comes as the U.S. pushes Ukraine and Russia to continue peace talks to reach a deal to end the war. Negotiations over the repatriation of bodies are among the few Kyiv-Moscow channels that continue to function, more than four years into the full-scale war.