Ukrainian attack on Russian oil refinery (representational image)
Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Russia overnight, setting a major oil refinery in the south of the country on fire and killing at least two people, Russian authorities said on Sunday.Kiev has dramatically intensified its long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and military industrial facilities in recent months, aiming to disrupt Moscow’s war effort and increase pressure on the Kremlin as the conflict enters its fifth year.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks targeted key Russian energy assets. “Tonight, our ‘long-term sanctions’ reached two oil refineries in Russia,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. He added, “Every (strike) means a decrease in the resources that fuel the Russian war machine, and another step towards peace.”A major refinery in southern Russia was hitRussian authorities said debris from the intercepted Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Slavyansk na Kobani, in the Krasnodar region of occupied eastern Crimea, the Associated Press reported.According to regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev, one person was killed in Slavyansk and another was injured in a nearby village after drone debris fell in the area.
The Slavyansk refinery is among the largest oil processing facilities in southern Russia, processing nearly four million tons of crude oil annually. It is also a major supplier of petroleum products, including fuel oil, naphtha and marine fuel, which are exported through Russian Black Sea ports.Photos and videos circulating on Russian social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising from what users described as the refinery site, although the images could not be independently verified.Another refinery was reportedly targetedZelensky also claimed that Ukrainian forces struck another oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, about 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.Russian authorities did not immediately confirm the attack on the Yaroslavl refinery. However, regional governor Mikhail Evraev said several roads connecting Moscow and Yaroslavl were temporarily closed due to a “hostile Ukrainian drone attack.”The Russian Civil Aviation Authority also temporarily suspended operations at Yaroslavl Airport and several airports in southern and western Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its air defense systems destroyed 213 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory, the occupied Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov.Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia launched 142 long-range drones and eight missiles against Ukrainian targets overnight. The forces said that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 125 drones and seven missiles.
