Ukrainian Drones Strike Russian Oil Refineries

Ukraine has launched a series of attacks on targets across Russia, utilizing at least 25 drones and nine rockets in a sweeping assault.

Both Russia and Ukraine have employed drones to target critical infrastructure, military installations, and troop concentrations during their more than two-year war. I Photo: Генеральний штаб ЗСУ / General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly reported for Reuters that the attack triggered a fire at a major refinery in the world's second-largest oil exporter, according to one Russian official.

Both Russia and Ukraine have employed drones to target critical infrastructure, military installations, and troop concentrations during their more than two-year war, with Kyiv targeting Russian refineries and energy facilities in recent months.

Russia's defense ministry claimed to have downed 25 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including Moscow, Leningrad, Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Tula, and Oryol.

Russian officials reported attacks on numerous energy facilities, including a fire at Lukoil's NORSI refinery and the destruction of a drone on the outskirts of Kirishi, home to Russia's second-largest oil refinery.

Gleb Nikitin, governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, posted a picture of the NORSI refinery and stated that emergency services were working to extinguish a fire there. The NORSI refinery has a capacity to process about 17 million metric tons of oil per year, or 340,000 barrels per day, and typically produces 11% of Russia's gasoline.

The Baza Telegram channel, which has close ties to Russian law enforcement, reported that Lukoil's Nizhny Novgorod refinery had also been hit, providing images of a plume of black smoke rising into the air and a significant fire.

WEEKLY FEATURE : Jose Mari Chan And The Christmas Anthem