Ukraine Strikes ‘Industrial' Facility in Russia's Saratov Region
The target was the large Saratov oil refinery according to Ukrainian media and Russian Telegram channels, in what would be the latest strike on a major Russian refining enterprise.
Videos posted on Russian social media showed fires and clouds of black smoke in the area of what was said to be the Rosneft PJSC-operated refinery.
The incident can't be independently verified, and Ukrainian officials haven't commented. Rosneft didn't immediately reply to a request for comment on Sunday sent via WhatsApp.
Governor Roman Busargin, in a Telegram post, confirmed damage to an unspecified 'industrial enterprise' near the Volga River, and said emergency services were on site. Flight restrictions were imposed and later lifted at Saratov airport, Interfax reported, citing the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency.
The Saratov refinery, about 530 miles southeast of Moscow, has a design processing capacity of about 140,000 barrels of crude a day.
With the Kremlin's war against Ukraine almost halfway through its fourth year, Kyiv's forces have recently stepped up hits on Russia's energy infrastructure in a move to curtail Moscow's ability to send fuel to the front line and derive revenue from oil sales.
A week ago, Ukraine said it hit the the Ryazan refinery, with a processing capacity of about 340,000 barrels of crude a day, and the Novokuibyshevsk plant in the Samara region, which has a design processing capacity of over 177,000 barrels a day.
The Ryazan facility, one of the country's largest, has significantly reduced oil intake since Aug. 2, when Ukrainian drones attacked the plant, Bloomberg reported.
Russia's defense ministry reported intercepting 121 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine said it shot down 80 of some 100 Russian drones. Two people were killed in Russian attack in Kherson region, Ukraine said.
The exchange of fire comes days ahead of a planned meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at brokering an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine won't cede territory to Russia to end the war, and was backed by European leaders pledging continued support for Ukraine's sovereignty.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
10 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Apollo Hospitals Q1 Results: Cons PAT surges 42% YoY to Rs 433 crore, revenue rises 15%
(What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2025, Share Market on Budget 2025 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Subscribe to ET Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Sensex Today. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price
News18
10 minutes ago
- News18
US inflation unchanged last month, though core prices accelerated
Agency: Last Updated: August 12, 2025, 20:00 IST Representational image (Image: News18) Washington, Aug 12 (AP) US inflation was unchanged in July while a measure of underlying inflation rose to its highest level in five months as tariffs push the price of imported goods higher while gas and grocery prices cooled. Consumer prices rose 2.7 per cent in July from a year earlier, the Labour Department said Tuesday, the same as the previous month and up from a post-pandemic low of 2.3 per cent in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent in June. Both figures are above the Federal Reserve's 2 per cent target. The figures suggest that slowing rent increases and cheaper gas are offsetting some impacts of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. Many businesses are also absorbing some of the cost of the duties. Tuesday's figures likely include some impact from the 10 per cent universal tariff Trump imposed in April, as well as higher duties on countries such as China and Canada. Still, stubbornly high inflation puts the Federal Reserve in a difficult spot: Hiring slowed sharply in the spring, after Trump announced tariffs in April. The stalling out of job gains has boosted financial market expectations for an interest rate cut by the central bank. Chair Jerome Powell has warned that worsening inflation could keep the Fed on the sidelines — a stance that has enraged Trump, who has defied traditional norms of central bank independence and demanded lower borrowing costs. Gas prices fell 2.2 per cent from June to July and have plunged 9.5 per cent from a year earlier, the government's report said. Grocery prices slipped 0.1 per cent last month, though they are still 2.2 per cent higher than a year ago. Restaurant meals continued to get more expensive, however, rising 0.3 per cent in July and 3.9 per cent from a year earlier. Tariffs appeared to raise the cost of some imported items: Shoe prices jumped 1.4 per cent from June to July, though they are still just 0.9 per cent more expensive than a year ago. The cost of furniture leapt 0.9 per cent in July and is 3.2 per cent higher than a year earlier. Clothing prices ticked up 0.1 per cent in July, after a larger rise in June, though they are still slightly cheaper than a year ago. Tuesday's data arrives at a highly-charged moment for the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics, which collects and publishes the inflation data. Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, then the head of BLS, after the Aug. 1 jobs report also showed sharply lower hiring for May and June than had previously been reported. The president posted on social media Monday that he has picked E.J. Antoni, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a frequent critic of the jobs report, to replace McEntarfer. 'E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE," Trump said on Truth Social. Adding to the BLS's turmoil is a government-wide hiring freeze that has forced it to cut back on the amount of data it collects for each inflation report, the agency has said. UBS economist Alan Detmeister estimates that BLS is now collecting about 18 per cent fewer price quotes for the inflation report than it did a few months ago. He thinks the report will produce more volatile results, though averaged out over time, still reliable. Americans are likely to absorb more trade-war costs in the coming months as Trump begins to finalize tariffs. Once businesses know what they will be paying, they are more likely to pass those costs to customers, economists say. Trump has insisted that overseas manufacturers will pay the tariffs by reducing their prices to offset the duties. Yet the pre-tariff prices of imports haven't fallen much since the levies were put in place. Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate that foreign manufacturers have absorbed just 14 per cent of the duties through June, while 22 per cent has been paid by consumers and 64 per cent by US companies. Based on previous patterns, however — such as Trump's 2018 duties on washing machines — the economists expect that by this fall consumers will bear 67 per cent of the burden, while foreign exporters pay 25 per cent and US companies handle just 8 per cent. Many large US companies are raising prices in response to the tariffs, including apparel makers Ralph Lauren and Under Armour, and eyewear company Warby Parker. Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, maker of Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, said late last month that it would lift prices on about a quarter of its products by mid-single-digit percentages. And cosmetics maker e.l.f. Beauty, which makes a majority of its products in China, said on Wednesday that it had raised prices by a dollar on its entire product assortment as of Aug. 1 because of tariff costs, the third price hike in its 21-year history. 'We tend to lead and then we will see how many more kind of follow us," CEO Tarang Amin said on an earnings call Wednesday. Swipe Left For Next Video View all Matt Pavich, senior director of strategy and innovation at Revionics, a company that provides AI tools to large retailers to help them evaluate pricing decisions, says many companies are raising prices selectively to offset tariffs, rather than across the board. 'Up until now we haven't seen a massive hit to consumers in retail prices," Pavich said. 'Now, they are going up, we've seen that." (AP) GSP (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments News agency-feeds US inflation unchanged last month, though core prices accelerated Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Read More
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
10 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Diamond, shrimp, home textiles to be hardest hit by US tariffs: Crisil
Diamond polishing, shrimp, home textiles, and carpets are among the sectors most vulnerable to the adverse effects of the 50 per cent tariffs that the United States (US) plans to impose on Indian imports, Crisil said in a report. The US administration currently levies a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports. An additional 25 per cent tariff — to take effect two weeks from now as a penalty for India's purchase of Russian crude oil — will take the cumulative additional tariff to 50 per cent. For other sectors such as ready-made garments (RMG), agrochemicals, specialty chemicals, and capital goods, the impact of the 25 per cent reciprocal tariff is likely to be more manageable, given moderate US exposure of 5–20 per cent of overall revenue, and a limited tariff disadvantage that may allow companies to partly pass on the impact to customers. 'Additionally, the move to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff with effect from August 27, 2025, as a penalty for importing crude oil from Russia, will make Indian exports to the US unviable for the aforesaid (diamond polishing, shrimp, home textiles, and carpets) as well as other sectors including RMG, chemicals, agrochemicals, capital goods, and solar panel manufacturing, which have sizable trade exposure to the US,' Crisil said. The 25 per cent reciprocal tariff that came into force on August 7 is higher than that faced by most of India's Asian competitors. Sectors such as diamond polishing, shrimp, and home textiles may see sales volumes decline due to heavy reliance on US trade, while costs will rise due to partial absorption of tariffs, affecting earnings. The extent of the impact will vary depending on sectoral exposure, the ability to pass on incremental costs to customers, and relative tariff disadvantage versus competing nations. 'A potential second-order impact, including a slowdown in US demand and disparate tariffs across nations that could alter global trade dynamics, also warrants close monitoring,' the report said, adding that any potential trade agreement between India and the US in the coming days will bear watching. However, strong corporate balance sheets, potential bilateral trade agreements with other countries, and possible Indian government support for impacted sectors could mitigate the credit impact to some extent, it added. The US is India's largest trade partner and export destination. In FY24, India exported goods worth $86.5 billion to the US, accounting for a fifth of India's merchandise exports. Sectoral Impact Diamond polishing: Exports to the US accounted for about 25% of total revenue in FY25. The tariff will put more pressure on the sector's modest operating margins due to reduced fixed-cost coverage and the need to bear higher tariff costs. US retailers have shown limited willingness to absorb the additional burden. Shrimp: The US accounts for about 48% of revenue for Indian shrimp exporters. India is now one of the highest-taxed major shrimp exporters to the US due to reciprocal tariffs, countervailing duties, and anti-dumping duties. Operating margins will be further eroded due to additional costs and limited pass-through ability, given stiff competition from Ecuador, which benefits from lower tariffs. Home textiles and carpets: Exports account for 70–75% and 65–70% of total sales, respectively, for these sectors. Of this, the US accounts for about 60% of exports for home textiles and about 50% for carpets. While India currently enjoys some tariff advantage against China, the reciprocal tariff will lead to a material decline in revenue and profits, given the limited ability to pass on higher costs for these discretionary products. RMG: Exports to the US form 10–15% of total revenue and will become completely unviable as the tariff structure will be significantly higher than that of competing manufacturers in China and Vietnam. Agrochemicals: Exports to the US account for 11–12% of sector revenue and will face challenges, with China as a key competitor. The ability to divert products to alternative markets such as Latin American countries will be limited by strong Chinese competition in those regions.
