Ukraine mounts big drone attack, says it hit Russian refinery

(Reuters) – Ukraine stated on Wednesday it had struck a big Russian oil refinery in an overnight drone attack, and a Russian official stated an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on a nuclear power plant had been thwarted.

The Ukrainian military stated the strike on the refinery in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region had caused a large fire. Reuters was able to verify a video posted on social media that showed orange flames lighting up the night sky in the city of Kstovo, but could not confirm it was the refinery that was burning.

Lukoil’s NORSI refinery, Russia’s fourth largest, is based in Kstovo, which lies east of Moscow and about 800 km (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Russian petrochemicals giant Sibur stated it had temporarily suspended operations at its plant, also in Kstovo, on Wednesday morning after debris from a Ukrainian drone sparked a fire. It stated the blaze was later contained, and there were no casualties.

Ukraine has launched frequent air attacks on Russian refineries, oil depots and industrial sites in an attempt to cripple key infrastructure underpinning Russia’s war effort.

Russia is currently feeding more crude oil through its refineries in the hope of boosting fuel exports following new U.S. sanctions on Russian tankers and traders made exports of unprocessed crude more difficult, sources told Reuters this week. A Ukrainian drone attack last week forced a refinery in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, to suspend operations.

NUCLEAR PLANT

The governor of Russia’s western Smolensk region said on Wednesday that air defence systems had destroyed a drone attempting to strike a nuclear power plant there. The plant was working normally, the RIA state news agency reported, citing its press service.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

The governor of Belgorod, another western region, said a mother and her two-year-old child had been killed when a drone struck a family home there. He said the child’s father and another child had been wounded and taken to hospital.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks in the war that Russia launched in February 2022. But thousands of civilians, mostly Ukrainians, have been killed.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Telegram that 104 Ukrainian drones had been involved in raids across western Russia, 11 of which were destroyed over the Smolensk region.

In total, Russian air defences destroyed drones over nine regions, nearly half of them over Kursk, where Russian forces are fighting to drive out Ukrainian troops who fought their way across the border last August.