Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian drones successfully targeted an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen region, located over 1,200 miles away from the Ukrainian border. Zelensky praised the military’s special operations for hitting the western Siberia region effectively, crediting the use of new, advanced long-range drones capable of operating beyond 1,800 miles.
The governor of Tyumen Region, Alexander Moor, confirmed that Russian air defenses repelled a drone attack on the oil refinery, with no reported damage and the evacuation of staff as a precautionary measure.
The Tyumen refinery, known for its modern and complex operations, has an estimated annual capacity of 8 million metric tonnes. It processes approximately 6 million tonnes of crude oil annually, resulting in around 0.5 million tonnes of petrol and 2.5 million tonnes of diesel, as per industry estimates cited by Reuters.
In another incident, Ukrainian forces reportedly targeted an oil terminal in Kerch, Crimea, triggering explosions in multiple locations, including Yevpatoria, Simferopol, Sevastopol, and an electrical substation in Bilohorsk. Additionally, fires were reported at the Kavkaz port in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai region across the Kerch Strait.
Following the drone attacks, traces of oil were reported falling in parts of Moscow as a result of a major oil refinery strike by Ukraine. The Moscow Oil Refinery, situated close to the Kremlin, experienced the attack, causing “oil rain” to reach areas like Zheleznodorozhny and Lyuberetsky districts, although Moscow officials denied the occurrence of any “oil rain.”
Around 200 drones were deployed in the strikes, with some incidents causing collateral damage such as a drone crashing into an apartment building and debris sparking a fire at a shopping center on the outskirts of Moscow. Local governor Andrei Vorobyov reported 17 injuries in the region.
In a separate attack, one person was killed and at least two others injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s southern Rostov region, as confirmed by local governor Yury Slyusar.
President Zelensky justified the strikes as a response to Russian attacks on Ukraine, marking the second strike on the refinery this week and the third in a month. The drone attacks led to the temporary closure of Moscow’s airports, resulting in flight delays and disruptions before operations resumed.
Russian air defenses intercepted numerous drones, with Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reporting the downing of around 180 drones approaching Moscow, while the defense ministry announced the interception of over 500 Ukrainian drones nationwide overnight.
Kyiv’s intensified drone strikes on Russia target oil refineries to disrupt Moscow’s war funding efforts, amid stalled diplomatic negotiations to end the ongoing conflict.
