Ukrainian drone attack causes fire at Russian oil refinery (VIDEO)
A blaze has broken out at an oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan Region as a result of a major overnight Ukrainian drone attack, local governor Pavel Malkov has written on Telegram.
In recent days, Kiev has continued its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure despite US President Donald Trump’s attempts to broker an “energy truce.”
A warehouse and several vehicles belonging to another local enterprise were also damaged during the raid, Malkov said.
However, there were no casualties, according to preliminary information, the governor stressed. The extent of damage is currently being assessed, with emergency services working in the affected areas, he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a later statement that the Ukrainian attack on an oil refinery in Ryazan Region occurred between 4 AM and 7 AM local time.
A total of four long-range Flamingo cruise missiles and 69 fixed-wing UAVs, fired by Kiev, had been shot down by air defenses and military aircraft, the statement read.
The fire at the facility had been caused by the debris of an intercepted drone, the ministry said.
US President Donald Trump demanded last week that Ukraine halt its attacks on oil refineries in Russia, saying that they were the reason for surging energy prices. On Sunday, the US president claimed that Moscow and Kiev had agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire.
Vladimir Zelensky reacted by saying that the announcement “was news” to him, but expressed a readiness to stop the strikes if Russia does the same.
Zelensky also said that Kiev would introduce a three-day pause in attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. However, the pledge was violated on Wednesday, with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak saying that two oil refineries – in Ryazan and Saratov Regions – were targeted by Ukrainian drones.
In order to alleviate the situation, Trump eased restrictions on Russia’s diesel exports following a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last week.
The US president accused Zelensky of seeking to “make problems” for the US and the whole world by attacking Russian oil refineries and suggested that Ukraine needed a “new president.”
“He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He can do whatever he wants, but he can’t do that. He’d better damn well stop,” the US president said.
On Tuesday, Zelensky confirmed reports that the US had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Kiev if it kept ignoring Trump’s demands. This week, Ukrainian officials also complained about receiving no advance warning from the Americans before Russian missile strikes as well as about problems with Starlink; the satellite internet service is used by Kiev’s troops for communications and controlling drones.
Zelensky blamed Trump for “betrayal” of Ukraine and suggested that the actual reason for the global energy shortage was the US war on Iran.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday in the day that “in fact, there was no moratorium on the part of Ukraine. Strikes on our oil refineries and energy facilities continued throughout this whole period. Therefore, there is nothing new here.”
The Trump administration’s “active attempts” to settle the Ukraine conflict “are being crushed by the unwillingness of the Kiev regime and Zelensky, in particular, to agree to peace,” Peskov added.
Russian officials have said repeatedly that Moscow seeks a long-term settlement of the Ukraine conflict rather than a temporary truce, which would be used by Zelensky’s government to rearm and regroup its forces.
