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KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian drones hit more Russian oil facilities and set two oil tankers ablaze in the Sea of Azov on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to grant Kyiv a license to manufacture the Patriot air defense systems to protect its cities.
A top Ukrainian official, meanwhile, cautioned that it could take a year or more for the country to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.
The Kremlin said the license deal reflected what it called Washington's "ambivalence" but noted it appreciated Trump's efforts to help broker a peace deal to end the war, which Russia launched more than four years ago.
Ukraine's drone strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure across Russia have triggered a widespread fuel crisis with gasoline shortages and rationing in multiple regions and motorists waiting for hours to fill their tanks. Moscow has responded by intensifying its bombardment on Kyiv and other cities, exposing Ukraine's vulnerability to ballistic missile strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the latest strikes on Russia's infrastructure as part of Kyiv's campaign of "long-range sanctions" carried out in response to Moscow's refusal to halt the fighting.
"We have long proposed that Russia end this war, and every day of delay should bring the feeling of war to where it all began -- to Russia," Zelenskyy said.
During Wednesday's meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said the U.S. will meet a longstanding request from Ukraine and give it a license to make the Patriot air defense systems. He also praised Zelenskyy for doing "an amazing job" -- a sharp change in tone from past criticisms of the Ukrainian leader.
But setting up domestic production of the mobile, surface-to-air systems will take many months, said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister.
A production license would typically come with technical process documentation, training for specialists, supplier contacts and foreign consultants to help launch manufacturing, Beskrestnov wrote on his Telegram channel.
The main obstacle would be time, rather than Ukraine's technical or organizational capacity, he added.
Recent media reports pointed to two likely bottlenecks: the long production cycle for some subcontracted components, which could take 12 to 24 months, and limited global output of key parts, including components from Boeing and L3Harris, Beskrestnov added.
The Pentagon had signed contracts to expand production capacity, he said, but added that the timeline for those contracts to translate into increased output remained unclear.