Drone sets fire to Russian refinery as Moscow warns of retaliation | Today’s news
A Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at an oil refinery in Kirishi, near Russia’s Baltic Sea coast, weeks after the facility was preparing to resume operations after months of repairs following earlier strikes.
The UAV strike deep inside Russian territory came as Moscow warned it was preparing “massive strikes” against Ukrainian energy facilities.
Russian air defense destroyed 62 drones over the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram on Sunday. He said one of the downed drones fell near a refinery in Kirishi and started a fire, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.
The fire was extinguished, Drozdenko said later, and no casualties were reported.
The Kirishi refinery, southeast of St. Petersburg, is about 1,000 km north of Kyiv. It was set to reboot earlier this month after being attacked in March and again in May. The plant, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day, produces mainly diesel, gasoline and heating oil, primarily for export.
The refinery is owned by Russian oil producer Surgutneftegas PJSC.
Ukraine has carried out more than 20 attacks on Russian refineries so far in August, a monthly record for the number of strikes since the Kremlin’s war began in February 2022. Russia said on Saturday it was extending a ban on diesel exports to keep the domestic market supplied amid stepped-up Ukrainian attacks.
The bombing campaign also triggered a new wave of gasoline shortages in Russian regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday it had begun preparations for “massive strikes” against Ukrainian energy facilities in response to recent attacks by Kyiv forces against civilian and energy infrastructure, according to a statement on Telegram.
Russian forces have aggressively targeted Ukrainian energy facilities before winter in previous years. Last year’s attacks condemned millions of people to long periods of freezing winter and darkness.
Separately, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in Telegram that 13 drones were destroyed en route to the capital. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 494 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight.
Russia fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine, as well as 130 UAVs, including Shahed drones and small Banderol missiles, of which Ukrainian air defenses shot down 125, the General Staff in Kyiv reported on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that recovery efforts were continuing in the village of Myla, west of Kiev, after a Russian strike blew up a warehouse where explosives were stored on Friday night. The death toll from the subsequent explosions and fires rose to 38. Twenty others were injured and four are missing.
“Pyrotechnic units are working around the clock at the site, detecting and neutralizing explosive devices. The extent of contamination of the area is considerable and this work will continue as long as necessary,” Zelenskyy said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
