Ukrainian drone attack triggers fire at Russian oil refinery

An attack by Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia overnight, killing one person, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.

Kyiv and Moscow have intensified their deadly cross-border missile and drone attacks in recent months, with both sides primarily targeting energy infrastructure.

Authorities in the Russian Black Sea city of Tuapse in the Krasnodar region said debris from a crashed drone had sparked a fire at an oil refinery.

Meanwhile, the governor of the southern Russian region of Belgorod said a tractor driver had been killed and his wife injured by a Ukrainian drone.

According to a source in the Ukrainian defense sector, drones with links to the Ukrainian defense intelligence service were behind the attack on the oil refinery. The facility is operated by the Russian state-owned energy giant Rosneft.

“The extent of the damage to the military-industrial complex of the aggressor state is currently being clarified,” the source said in the written comment.

Russia said its forces shot down 75 Ukrainian drones overnight, destroying nearly 50 over the southern Rostov region.

Air defense systems intercepted 47 drones over Rostov, 17 over the Black and Azov Seas and 11 in other areas, including one over the Belgorod border region, the Defense Ministry said.

Russia announces the interception of Ukrainian drones almost daily, which Kyiv says is a response to Russian attacks on military and civilian targets since the launch of Moscow’s “special military operation” in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that its armed forces had shot down 16 Russian drones overnight.