Fire erupts at Russian oil refinery from Ukrainian drone strike

A pair of Ukrainian drones struck a major oil refinery in southwestern Russia overnight, sparking a fire, according to reports.

Ukraine’s SBU security service was behind the operation on the refinery, which was in the Volograd region and was owned by industry behemoth Lukoil, news outlets reported.

Local media V1 published photos that it said depicted an explosion during the overnight attack, and residents told the outlet they heard two explosions, according to AFP. 

Russian officials downplayed the severity of the attack. 

“Last night, the air defense and electronic jamming repelled an attack by drones in the Volgograd region’s Kalachyovsky and Zakanalye districts,” Volgograd governor Andrei Bocharov said on Telegram. 

“A fire started at the Volgograd refinery after one of the downed drones fell,” he added, noting that firefighters had the blaze under control by the morning and no one was hurt in the attack.

Saturday’s operation was the latest in a series of Ukrainian drone strikes in recent weeks targeting Russian oil facilities, which Kyiv sees as vital for the Kremlin’s war effort.

“By hitting oil refineries working for the Russian military-industrial complex, we not only cut off the logistics of fuel supplies for enemy equipment, but also reduce the filling of the Russian budget,” the Ukrainian source told Reuters.

Lukoil boasts on its website that it is “one of the leading companies in the Russian oil and gas industry.” The refinery targeted in the recent drone attack is located south of the city of Volgograd and is roughly 214 miles from the Ukrainian border.   

The Russian army said it used electronic jamming to down or intercept four drones in the Ukraine-bordering Belgorod region, two in Volgograd and another in Rostov-on-Don, AFP reported. 

In other news: 

• Ukraine shared with the Biden administration that President Volodomyr Zelensky is poised to fire his top commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, sources told The Washington Post. The decision follows clashes between the pair over how to advance Ukraine’s frontline in its ongoing war with Russia, which will soon enter its third year. 

• Former Wagner Group fighters are joining Russia’s national guard as Moscow continues to assert its control over the mercenary group, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. The move follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to sign a law authorizing the national guard, known as the Rosgvardia, to create its own volunteer formations, which are incorporating the mercenaries and will be deployed to Ukraine or Africa, British military. 

• China is demanding that Ukraine pull 14 Chinese companies’ names from a global list of 48 firms Kyiv has designated as “international sponsors of war” by indirectly assisting or contributing to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. China’s ambassador in Kyiv previously told Ukrainian government officials that keeping the firms on the list could hurt bilateral relations with Ukraine. 

With Post wires.