Drone strike hits Russian refinery as Moscow warns of retaliation

MOSCOW: A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at one of Russia's largest oil refineries, weeks after the facility resumed operations following months of repairs prompted by earlier attacks.

The attack on the Kirishi refinery, deep inside Russian territory, came as Moscow said it was preparing "massive strikes" against Ukrainian energy facilities in response to recent attacks.

Russian air defences destroyed 62 drones over the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram on Sunday. One of the drones fell near the refinery in Kirishi, starting a fire, he said.


Ukraine's General Staff later confirmed that its forces had struck the refinery, causing a fire. It also said Ukrainian forces attacked a storage and launch site for drones in Millerovo in Russia's Rostov region and Yeysk airfield in the Krasnodar region.

The fire at Kirishi was later extinguished, Drozdenko said. No casualties were reported.

The refinery, located southeast of St Petersburg, has a processing capacity of about 400,000 barrels a day and is roughly 1,000 km (620 miles) north of Kyiv. It restarted operations in late July after being hit in March and again in May.

The plant, owned by Russian oil producer Surgutneftegas PJSC, mainly produces diesel, gasoline and fuel oil, primarily for export.

Ukraine has carried out more than 20 attacks on Russian refineries so far in August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, making it the busiest month for such strikes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.