Ukraine continues to pummel Russian energy sector with drone strike on Rosneft’s largest oil refinery

Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery in Russia’s central Ryazan region overnight on Friday, triggering a fire in one of its facilities, independent Telegram channel ASTRA reported on Saturday, citing local residents.

No casualties were sustained in the attack, Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said, adding that “falling debris” had been responsible for the fire at the refinery rather than a direct strike, with the Russian Defence Ministry reporting that 25 Ukrainian drones had been shot down in the Ryazan region overnight.

The Defence Ministry added that another 39 Ukrainian drones had been shot down elsewhere in Russia, with 17 downed over the southern Rostov region alone.

The Ryazan refinery — which is Russian oil giant Rosneft’s largest oil refinery and accounts for 5% of the country’s total refining capacity — was previously attacked in late October, when it was forced to temporarily suspend operations. The refinery had again suspended operations as a result of Friday’s drone strike, according to Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council. 

If confirmed, the Ryazan refinery would become the second large oil-processing facility in Russia to shut down this week, after another Rosneft refinery in the central Saratov region ceased operations following a Ukrainian drone strike on Tuesday.

In Ukraine on Saturday, regional authorities reported that at least nine civilians had been killed and 53 injured nationwide in the past 24 hours, with the death toll from Thursday night’s combined missile and drone strike on the capital Kyiv rising from six to seven, according to Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. 

In addition, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Vladyslav Haivanenko said on Saturday that one civilian had been killed and another injured in an overnight Russian artillery and drone strike on the eastern Ukrainian region.