Ukraine strikes Russian missile ship, key oil refinery in major attack

Ukraine strikes Russian missile ship, key oil refinery in major attack
Source: Newsweek

A missile ship, a radar station and an oil refinery were among the Russian assets hit in Ukraine's latest drone attacks, according to Kyiv.

The oil facility struck overnight is one of Russia's largest, as Kyiv continues its attacks on energy infrastructure, causing gasoline shortages across the country.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Ukrainian forces have stepped up their attacks on Russia's oil industry and military-industrial complex, disrupting operations and causing a fuel shortage that posed increasing political problems for the Kremlin.

On Saturday, Ukraine's General Staff revealed the details of its latest operations over the previous night.

An attack on Kirishi refinery run by Kirishinefteorgsintez in Leningrad, which has an annual capacity of 18.4 million tons of oil processing, caused explosions and a fire.

Images published by the independent Russian channel Astra showed a large explosion and flames rising from the refinery, while locals posted on social media about the blaze.

Regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed the drone attack and fire but did not identify the facility. He also said the fire had been put out and that air defenses had destroyed seven drones in the skies.

The refinery is more than 500 miles from Ukraine's border, and as one of Russia's largest, produces 6.6 percent of Russia's total oil refining volumes. It has been targeted repeatedly, including last month and in March 2024.

On September 14, the refinery lost almost half of its production capacity when one of its primary processing units was hit, according to an open-source intelligence X account.

Ukraine also said it had hit the small missile ship Buyan-M in Lake Onega in Russia's republic of Karelia.

The Ukrainian armed forces said in a statement that a Garmon radar station and a transport and loading vehicle belonging to the Iskander missile system in Russia's Kursk region were hit, as was a command post in an occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk region.

On Friday, Ukrainian drones targeted a chemical plant in Russia's Perm region, disrupting the production of nitrogen fertilizer. In a separate attack, Kyiv's drones hit an oil refinery in Russia's Orenburg egion.

The Ukrainian government's SPRAVDI -- Stratcom Centre wrote on X: "Russia's Kirishi oil refinery near St. Petersburg had a difficult night, continuing to burn into the morning."
Ukrainian X user Kate from Kharkiv wrote: "Kirishi oil refinery in Leningrad region of Russia is getting kinetically sanctioned."

The Defense Forces of Ukraine said it would "continue a systematic campaign against the destruction of Russian military facilities and weakening its military-economic potential, including in part of logistics, provision of fuel and oil materials, ammunition and weapons."

With the prospect of a ceasefire deal distant, further Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's oil facilities and other infrastructure central to its war effort are likely to continue.