Ukrainian drone attack ignites Russian oil refinery as Putin acknowledges 'difficult period'

Ukraine kept up its heavy drone assault on Russia, setting fire to a major oil refinery in the south and killing at least two people, Russian authorities said Sunday, as President Vladimir Putin acknowledged his country is going through a “difficult period”. Ukraine has markedly stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for its invasion and make Russians feel the consequences.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram that “our ‘long-range sanctions’ reached two oil refineries in Russia”. Debris from downed Ukrainian drones sparked a blaze at the refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, a town in Russia's Krasnodar region, east of occupied Crimea, according to Governor Veniamin Kondratyev. The falling debris killed one person in Sloviansk and wounded another in a nearby village. The Sloviansk site is one of southern Russia’s major refineries, processing close to 4 million tons of crude per year and a key source of petroleum products for export through Russia’s Black Sea ports.

Zelensky also claimed that a second Russian refinery, in the Yaroslavl region around 700 km from the Ukrainian border, was hit during the nighttime strikes. There were no immediate reports from Russian authorities about the strike on the Yaroslavl refinery. Local Governor Mikhail Evraev reported that some roads were temporarily closed due to “an enemy attack by Ukrainian drones”, and Yaroslavl's airport briefly closed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on Sunday that the country was “going through a difficult period”, but insisted that Moscow would “honour all its social obligations” to citizens. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia was actively reviewing fuel export agreements to avoid compromising domestic needs. Fuel sales to civilians were also being restricted in Russia’s Irkutsk region in Siberia, where drivers will be barred from buying more than 50 liters of fuel per vehicle per day at state-run Rosneft gas stations.

Also on Sunday, a Russian aerial bomb killed two people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and injured 16 others, including two children. In Russia's border region of Belgorod, Ukrainian drone strikes killed one person and injured another. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 213 Ukrainian drones during the night. Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 142 long-range strike drones and eight missiles overnight, of which Ukraine said it shot down 125 drones and seven missiles.