By Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukraine struck energy facilities in southern Russia with dozens of drones launched on Monday, triggering fires at a major oil refinery and gas processing plant and disrupting flights from the Volga to the Caucasus Mountains, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
Russia’s defence ministry said that its air defence units intercepted and destroyed 70 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight, including 25 over the Volgograd region, 27 over the Rostov region and seven over the Astrakhan region.
“The air defence forces of the defence ministry repelled a massive attack by aircraft-type drones on the territory of the Volgograd region,” Volgograd Governor Andrei Bocharov said.
Falling drone debris sparked several fires at an oil refinery, he said, though he did not say which refinery was on fire.
Since Russia sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv has tried to fight back against its much bigger neighbour by striking deep into Russia with drones and missiles, and even killing a senior military commander in Moscow.
Russia says the attacks amount to terrorism, are an escalation of the war and that the West aids the attacks with weapons and targeting information.
Ukrainian officials say they have a right to hit back at Russia, as Russia’s energy, transport and military infrastructure is key to Moscow’s war effort.
Baza, a Russian news Telegram channel that is close to Russia’s security services, said a series of explosions were heard in the area around a refinery operated by Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil in Volgograd.
The 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery is the largest in southern Russia. In 2023, it processed 13.508 million metric tons of oil, or 4.9% of the total refining volume at Russian refineries.
In the neighbouring region of Astrakhan, Governor Igor Babushkin said Ukrainian drones tried to strike energy facilities and a fire had broken out. Baza and other Russian Telegram channels said Ukraine attacked a gas processing plant near Astrakhan.
“Ukrainian armed forces attempted a drone attack on objects located in the region, including fuel and energy facilities,” Babushkin said on Telegram. “There were no casualties.”
DAMAGE ASSESSED
Russia’s Interfax news agency, citing local authorities, reported that the fire at the plant has been contained, while the governor said the plant had suspended operations before coming under attack.
The governor put out a video on Telegram of him inspecting the plant and a manager telling him that the damage to a condensate processing unit was being assessed.
“The situation is under control, there is no danger to the staff,” the manager said.
Ukrainian Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, who heads the Center for Countering Disinformation, part of the National Security and Defense Council, said the Astrakhan gas processing plant had been hit.
The plant, controlled by gas giant Gazprom, is capable of processing around 8,340 metric tons of gas condensate per day.
The Astrakhan plant produced 703,000 tons of gasoline, or 1.6% of Russia’s total, as well as 492,000 tons of diesel (0.6%) and 299,000 tons of fuel oil (0.7%) in 2023.
Unverified videos on social media showed giant flames and black smoke leaping into the night sky above a processing plant, as bystanders expressed shock at the size of the fire.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side. Gazprom and Lukoil did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether their facilities had been attacked.
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia temporarily suspended flights from the Astrakhan and Volgograd airports, as well as from Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Saratov and Ulyanovsk to ensure air safety.
Flights were later restored at most of the airports, Rosaviatsia said on Telegram.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Editing Kim Coghill, Kate Mayberry, Jamie Freed and Alison Williams)
