Ukraine said its drones attacked four Russian oil refineries in a major raid

Ukrainian long-range combat drones attacked four Russian oil refineries as well as radar stations and other military targets in Russia in a major raid in the early hours of Friday, the Kiev military said.

Ukraine has dramatically increased its use of drones to attack Russian oil facilities this year, viewing them as legitimate military targets that provide fuel for Russian troops in their nearly 28-month-long invasion.

“Unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the Afipsky, Ilsky, Krasnodar and Astrakhan oil refineries,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement on the messaging app Telegram.

The Russian military had previously said it had shot down 70 drones over the Black Sea and the Ukrainian-occupied Crimean peninsula on Friday, 43 drones over the Russian region of Krasnodar and another over the Russian region of Volgograd.

A Kiev intelligence source told Reuters that the Afipsky, Ilsky and Krasnodar oil refineries produced fuel for the Russian Black Sea Fleet and that the drone operation against them was carried out jointly with the SBU security service.

“The damage to these refineries will significantly complicate the logistics of fuel oil supply, making it more expensive and time-consuming as the fuel oil will have to be supplied from other refineries,” the source said.

The Ukrainian military said it had also attacked radar stations and electronic intelligence centers in the Bryansk region and in occupied Crimea. The statement did not specify which sites were targeted.

Drone storage and launch facilities as well as command and control centers in the Russian region of Krasnodar were also hit, it said. Explosions and fires were confirmed in these facilities.

According to the source, the drone attack targeted a training center in the city of Yeisk in the Krasnodar region, which is used by Russia for drone attacks on Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military also claimed responsibility in a statement for Thursday’s drone attacks on fuel depots in the Russian regions of Tambov and Adygea.

Friday’s drone attack came after Russia carried out the latest in a series of airstrikes on Ukrainian power plants, causing blackouts and raising fears about whether the electricity grid will hold out this winter.

Russian attacks on the power grid have caused significant damage to Ukraine’s energy production capacity since March. Moscow said some of the attacks were retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.