Live Ukraine: Ukraine carries out drone strikes in Tatarstan, probably hitting key oil refinery

10:28

Ukraine carries out drone strikes in Tatarstan, hitting key oil refinery

Ukraine shelled several targets around Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan last night. According to Tatar driver Roustam Minnikhanov, the attacks were largely successfully repelled, he reports on Telegram. Rarely has Ukraine struck so far into Russian territory.

Since 2006, there has been a so-called ‘economic zone’ around the cities, consisting of dozens of companies that focus on the production of chemical products and metalworking. Ukraine is increasingly targeting targets far beyond its own borders. In this way it tries to hit the Russian petrochemical sector.

One of the targets last night was an important refinery of oil company Tatneft, located about 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The factory is one of the largest in the country and processes 360,000 barrels of oil every day. An unmanned aircraft briefly caused a fire at the factory near Nizhnekamsk, but according to Russian authorities the damage was not so extensive that production had to be halted.

A hostel where workers from the zone stay was also hit, according to international news agencies. Seven people were injured.

Conversely, Russia struck with drones last night in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions, with the aim of disrupting the Ukrainian energy network. Most attacks were repulsed, but a high-voltage station in Kirovohrad was damaged. Russian attacks on the Ukrainian electricity network have caused significant damage several times in recent weeks, resulting in large-scale power outages.

Maartje Geels

06:45

Third-country nationals from Ukraine still unsure about leaving the Netherlands

People who lived in Ukraine with a temporary residence permit and fled to the Netherlands when Russia invaded the country should leave the Netherlands no later than today. This would concern a group of about 2,500 refugees.

Earlier this year, the Council of State determined that so-called third-country nationals were no longer entitled to residence from March 4 and had to leave the Netherlands within one month or apply for asylum. However, dozens of third-country nationals appealed against the so-called return decision.

Various courts subsequently ruled that third-country nationals are entitled to the same protection as Ukrainians who are housed in the Netherlands and may not be deported. Other courts followed the ruling of the Council of State in their judgments. As a result, there is now a lot of uncertainty among third-country nationals.

State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) is expected to send a letter to all municipalities on Tuesday about how they should act. “Third-country nationals who do not have a well-founded appeal, granted interim measure or disciplinary measure are obliged to leave the Netherlands on April 2,” said the spokesperson for State Secretary Eric van der Burg of (Asylum) last week.

Also read: Courts contradict each other, no one knows anymore where the third-country nationals stand

11:59 PM, Yesterday

Welcome to the live blog of Tuesday April 2

This was the most important news about the war in Ukraine last weekend:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has given permission to call up 150,000 conscripts. These are men between the ages of 18 and 30. Conscripts are called up twice a year in Russia. By law, the men cannot be deployed in combat outside Russian territory during their period of service.

• If the military support promised by the US is not forthcoming, the Ukrainian army must withdraw ‘in small steps’. This is what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says The Washington Post. “If there is no American support, it means we have no air defenses, no Patriot missiles, no electronic warfare jammers, no 155-millimeter artillery ammunition,” Zelensky said.

• France will supply hundreds of old but still functional armored vehicles to Ukraine. In addition, Paris will also supply Aster 30 rockets to the country. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said this in an interview with LaTribune.

Read the full live blog from last weekend here.