Ukraine claims responsibility for three attacks on oil refineries in Russia, Moscow says naval attack foiled

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian military launched a wave of drone strikes overnight that attacked three oil refineries in southern Russia, a security official said Friday, in an attempt by Ukraine to disrupt infrastructure that supplies the Russian military.

Russia said its air defenses shot down numerous drones, including half a dozen that launched a naval attack in the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian security official said his country’s armed forces also attacked a drone launching facility in Russia, but declined to say how that target was attacked. The operations involved the armed forces and the Ukrainian security service SBU, the official said. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly disclose the information.

SBU drones attacked oil refineries at the Russian sites of Afipsky, Ilsky and Krasnodar that supply fuel to the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the official said.

Ukrainian forces also attacked a drone facility in the southern Russian city of Yeisk where Iranian-made Shahed drones are stored and launched, the official said. A “series of explosions” were recorded there, the official said.

Russian regional authorities in the Krasnodar region said drone strikes had injured four people, including workers at an oil refinery.

Despite improvements in Russian air defenses, Ukraine continues its attacks on oil infrastructure across the border, with several sites hit in 2024. The attacks are part of a broader effort to disrupt Russia’s military supplies.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that its air defenses had shot down 114 Ukrainian drones. 70 drones were shot down in Crimea and the Black Sea, 43 in the Krasnodar region and one in the Volgograd region further east.

Early Friday, Russian fighter jets also destroyed six Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea, the ministry said, making it one of the largest drone attacks of its kind in recent months.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar Region, said Ukrainian drones also damaged a boiler room near a bus station in the city of Krasnodar, killing a worker.

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Ilia Novikov, Associated Press