Ukrainian Drones Damage Russian Oil Refineries in 2nd Day of Attacks

Smoke billows after Ukraine's SBU drone strikes a refinery, in Ryazan, Ryazan Region, Russia, in this screen grab from a video, on March 13, 2024. Video Obtained By Reuters/via Reuters

MOSCOW—Ukraine struck Russian oil refineries in a second day of drone attacks on Wednesday, causing a fire at Rosneft’s biggest refinery in what President Vladimir Putin said was an attempt to disrupt his country’s presidential election this week.

Russia and Ukraine have both used drones to strike critical infrastructure, military installations, and troop concentrations in their more than two-year war, with Kyiv stepping up attacks on Russian refineries and energy facilities in recent months.

A day after damaging Lukoil’s NORSI refinery in Nizhny Novgorod, Ukrainian drone attacks hit refineries in the Rostov and Ryazan regions, Russian officials said.

In Ryazan 180 kms (110 miles) from Moscow, a drone attack caused a fire at Rosneft’s refinery, Russia’s seventh largest and there were initial reports of injuries, governor Pavel Malkov said. In a later update he said the fire had been extinguished.

In Rostov, there were no casualties but the Novoshakhtinsk refinery was forced to halt operations and damage was being assessed, regional governor Vasily Golubev said.

Mr. Putin, in remarks published on Wednesday, accused Kyiv of attempts to interfere with the March 15-17 presidential election through its attacks.

“The main goal, I have no doubt about it, is to—if not to disrupt the presidential elections in Russia—then at least somehow interfere with the normal process of expressing the will of citizens,” Mr. Putin told Russia’s RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television in a wide-ranging interview.

Drone War

Russian media said around 60 drones had been destroyed over Russian sovereign territory over just several hours on Wednesday.

Russia’s RIA state news agency said four Ukrainian drones attacked the Ryazan plant in the early hours, leading to a 175 square metre blaze.

Unverified video footage posted on social media showed a plume of black smoke soaring above flames at the plant.

A drone was destroyed by air defences on its approach to the Kirishi refinery, Russia’s second largest, in the north of Russia, Alexander Drozdenko, the Leningrad region’s governor, said. There was no impact on the refinery’s work, he said.