The drone assault on Wednesday caused a fire at an oil facility located in Ryanzan, about 100 miles southeast of Moscow, The Washington Post reported, citing the region’s governor, Pavel Malkov.
Since Tuesday, Ukraine has been hitting Russia with a wave of drones, targeting oil refineries located deep in the country. According to the Post, nine Russian cities and towns were targeted.
At least two other refineries that were hit during Ukraine’s drone assault, included one in Kstovo, about 300 miles east of Moscow, and one in Kirishi, which represents some of Russia’s largest oil facilities, CNN reported citing a Ukrainian defense source.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that it shot down about 60 drones that Ukraine deployed overnight on Wednesday to six regions, Bloomberg reported. If the numbers are accurate, that would mark one of Ukraine’s largest drone strikes against Russia in recent months, according to the report.
One of Russia’s largest drone attacks on Ukraine since the war began in 2022 occurred in November, when the country launched more than 70 Iranian-made drones toward Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A Ukrainian official told The Financial Times that the strategy is “to deprive the enemy of resources and reduce the flow of oil money and fuel.”
The three facilities hit in Ukraine’s attack account for about 10 percent of Russia’s oil-processing capacity, according to FT’s report.
