Ukraine launched one of its largest overnight drone strikes against Russia, setting ablaze a major oil refinery in the country’s south and killing at least two people, Russian authorities said on Sunday.Kiev has sharply stepped up long-range strikes against Russia’s energy infrastructure and military industrial facilities in recent months, aiming to undermine Moscow’s war effort and increase pressure on the Kremlin as the conflict enters its fifth year.president of ukraine Vladimir Zelensky It said the attack targeted key Russian energy assets. “Tonight, our ‘remote sanctions’ have affected two Russian refineries,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “Each (attack) means a reduction in fuel resources for Russia’s war machine and another step towards peace,” he added.Major oil refinery in southern Russia hit hardRussian authorities said the wreckage of an intercepted Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Kubany, Slavyansk, in the Krasnodar region of eastern Crimea, the Associated Press reported.One person was killed in Slavyansk and another in a nearby village was injured after debris from the downed drone fell in the region, according to regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev.The Slavyansk Refinery is one of the largest oil processing facilities in southern Russia, processing nearly 4 million tons of crude oil per year. It is also a major supplier of petroleum products, including fuel oil, naphtha and marine fuel exported through Russia’s Black Sea ports.Images and videos circulating on Russian social media showed thick smoke billowing from what users believed was an oil refinery, but the visuals could not be independently confirmed.Another refinery reportedly targetedZelensky also claimed that Ukrainian troops attacked another oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, about 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.Russian authorities did not immediately confirm the attack on the Yaroslavl refinery. However, regional governor Mikhail Evlaev said several roads connecting Moscow and Yaroslavl had been temporarily closed due to “enemy attacks on Ukrainian drones.”Russia’s Civil Aviation Authority has also temporarily suspended operations at Yaroslavl Airport and multiple airports in southern and western Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense systems destroyed 213 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory, occupied Crimea, and the Black and Azov Seas.At the same time, the Ukrainian Air Force stated that Russia launched 142 long-range drones and 8 missiles at Ukrainian targets overnight. According to the Ukrainian Air Defense Force, Ukrainian air defense systems intercepted 125 drones and 7 missiles.
