Russia oil refinery hit in latest wave of drone strikes

For the second day in a row, Russia’s oil refineries and border areas were the target of drone strikes on Wednesday. One of the hits started a fire and injured many people in the Ryazan region, according to officials.

According to regional governors, dozens of drones were fired over the course of the night, the great majority of which were shot down over the Ukrainian border districts of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Voronezh, causing minor damage but no casualties.

One crashed into an oil refinery in the Ryazan area, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) southeast of Moscow, setting up a fire and injuring many persons.

“The Ryazan oil refinery was attacked by a drone,” Ryazan regional governor Pavel Malkov wrote on Telegram.

“According to preliminary information, there are injuries,” he wrote.

A fire broke out at the refinery following the strike and “all rescue services are working at the scene,” Malkov said.

Alexander Drozdenko, the regional governor, said on Telegram that a drone that was aimed at a second oil refinery in the Leningrad area, close to Saint Petersburg, the second city in northwest Russia, was shot down. He added that there was no casualties or damage.

Over thirty drones were shot down over the Voronezh area; regional governor Alexander Gussev reported little damage on Telegram.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that six drones were shot down over the Belgorod area, hurting many electrical wires and resulting in power interruptions.

The governors of those areas posted on Telegram that eight drones were shot down over the Bryansk region and four were destroyed over the Kursk region, with no reports of damage.

On Tuesday, Ukraine launched one of its most significant drone strikes on Russia so far in the two-year conflict.

Two Russian energy sites, including one of the largest oil refineries some 800 kilometres from the border, were hit in the strikes, Russian officials said.

A major oil refinery in Kstovo, just outside the city of Nizhny Novgorod, was hit by a drone early on Tuesday morning, the regional governor said.

Another drone crashed into a fuel depot and started a fire in Oryol, around 160 kilometres from the border, according to the regional governor.