ASBURY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 29, 2026--
Asbury Advanced Materials (“Asbury”) announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Graphit Kropfmühl GmbH (“GK”) from AMG, marking a significant milestone in the company’s continued evolution as a global advanced materials platform.
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The transaction builds upon Asbury’s recent rebranding as Asbury Advanced Materials, reflecting the company’s expanding technical capabilities, diversified engineered materials portfolio, and growing global presence.
With the transaction now closed, GK becomes part of the Asbury Advanced Materials global platform, expanding the company’s technical capabilities, processing expertise, vertically integrated sourcing position, and application development resources. GK brings a globally recognized graphite business with mining, processing, and technology operations across Europe and Asia, supported by approximately 390 employees worldwide.
As part of the post-close operational alignment, Asbury Advanced Materials’ Netherlands operations and commercial activities will transition under the GK brand and operate as GK Netherlands – A Division of Asbury Advanced Materials. This alignment creates a more integrated European operating structure while maintaining continuity for customers, suppliers, and commercial partners.
The combination of Asbury Advanced Materials and GK brings together more than 250 years of collective experience in carbon materials and engineered solutions. The combined organization will continue to support customers through expanded global supply capabilities, deep technical collaboration, and a broader materials portfolio serving high-performance industrial and advanced applications.
About Asbury Advanced Materials
Founded in 1895 and based in Asbury, NJ, Asbury Advanced Materials is a global leader in engineered carbon and advanced material solutions. The company supplies more than 2,000 grades of carbon, graphite, cokes, and specialty materials, processed to exact customer specifications for use in polymers and rubbers, paints and coatings, lubricants, specialty ceramics, friction products, insulation, and other high-performance applications. The company operates 8 manufacturing locations across the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and the Netherlands, supported by sales offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, and employs more than 600 team members worldwide.
For more information, please visithttps://www.asbury.com.
Asbury Advanced Materials Announces Completion of Graphit Kropfmühl GmbH Acquisition
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces hit two of Russia’s biggest oil refineries overnight in its latest long-range strikes, officials said Wednesday, as Kyiv deepened its economic, military and diplomatic pressure on Moscow.
Ukraine’s almost daily long-range drone and missile strikes using domestically developed weapons have battered Russian oil facilities for months. The operation has brought a fuel crisis that is embarrassing the Kremlin more than four years after Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor.
The overnight attacks started fires at a Lukoil refinery in Russia’s Perm region, more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) from Ukraine, and a refinery in Ryazan, about 400 kilometers (180 miles) from the border, Ukraine’s Security Service and General Staff said in separate statements.
The refineries have a combined annual production capacity of around 220 million barrels of oil, according to Ukraine, and make a vital contribution to Russia's military effort and its government revenue.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the claims. Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov said only that six people were taken to hospital after a drone attack. He said drone debris caused fires at unidentified “industrial sites.”
Russian online retailer Wildberries, a major supplier likened to Amazon that Ukraine has targeted in recent days, said it evacuated employees from a facility in Ryazan but provided no further details.
Russia has sophisticated air defenses but its vast territory is hard to comprehensively cover.
The attacks came hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington on Tuesday for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump to push for more vital American help for Ukraine’s fight against its much bigger enemy.
“Russia must feel that every day of this war will only come at a higher cost for it. We need to weaken the aggressor and keep up the pressure to bring an end to this war closer,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
Ukraine’s recent high-profile successes against Russia have impressed Washington and helped restore U.S. goodwill after Trump’s reluctance at the start of his second term to keep supporting Kyiv. That stance had raised the specter of Ukraine and Europe having to stand up to Russian aggression alone.
Zelenskyy said he had a “good meeting” with the American president, and Trump described the meeting as a “Great Honor.” The talks took place behind closed doors.
“Many things were discussed. The meeting went very well!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Zelenskyy said he also had a meeting in Washington with representatives of both parties in the U.S. Senate, with more than 60 senators in attendance, as Ukraine pushes for more sanctions on Russia. He also met with representatives of Lockheed Martin, days after he welcomed a delegation from Raytheon to Kyiv.
The U.S. weapons manufacturers are a crucial source of sophisticated weaponry, such as Patriot air defense systems, that Ukraine hopes to make itself. Trump said earlier this month he would grant Ukraine licenses to manufacture the Patriots it needs to counter Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine is discussing joint production and technology exchange with both Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
Ukraine is ready to share its cutting-edge — and battle-tested — drone technology. Its swift technical innovation has paid dividends as it helps pin down Russia’s bigger army on the front line and denies it supplies by hitting rear areas.
That has impressed countries around the world. Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said during a visit to Ukraine earlier this week: “From reconnaissance and logistics to precision strikes, Ukraine has shown the world how unmanned systems can give smaller forces a decisive edge.”
Prospects for a settlement to stop the fighting appear dim, despite a yearlong diplomatic push by the Trump administration.
But U.S. officials also agreed that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s main envoys, would make a trip to Kyiv sometime in the future, according to a person familiar with the talks who was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.
Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, the new commander-in-chief of Ukraine's military, said in a social media post on Wednesday that he had held his first phone conversation with Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command.
“I outlined my vision of Ukraine’s victory and the capabilities required to achieve it,” said Drapatyi, who was appointed last week as part of a government reshuffle.
“At this stage of the war, we must strengthen operations across multiple domains, prevent enemy infiltration into our defensive lines, and expand both long-range and medium-range precision strikes against the enemy,” he added.
Ukrainian units also have struck 201 Russian vessels over the past three weeks in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, which border both countries, a senior military official said.
The tally doesn’t include vessels hit by Ukraine’s Security Service and other military groups, a Ukrainian military commander who could be identified only by his call sign Magyar, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military, said late Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces also struck a naval base used Russia’s Black Sea, according to the General Staff.
It reported other strikes on a radar station in Russia’s Bryansk region on the border and on a drone launch site and a road bridge in the occupied part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported Wednesday that its air defenses shot down 295 Ukrainian drones overnight above a number of Russian regions and occupied Crimea.
Russian glide bombs struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv and 17 other places in the region of the same name over the previous 24 hours, wounding 11 people, the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said.
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, is joined by from left: Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., as he arrives at the U.S. Capitol for a meeting of bipartisan leaders of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol with from left: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., following a meeting of bipartisan leaders of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands with a bipartisan group of Senators in the Capitol building, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is joined by from left: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. Katie Boyd Britt, R-Ala., Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, as he arrives at the U.S. Capitol for a meeting of bipartisan leaders of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
