Ukraine unleashes massive overnight drones strikes on Russian energy infrastructure

Ukraine’s military launched a series of drone strikes on energy infrastructure across several Russian regions overnight on Saturday, with Telegram news channels reporting attacks on at least two oil depots, a refinery, and a thermal power plant, though the extent of the damage remains unclear.

The attack comes as part of a wider increased aerial campaign between Kyiv and Moscow recently, marking at least the the fourth night in a row that Ukrainian drones have targeted multiple Russian regions in overnight attacks.

In central Russia’s Yaroslavl region, Ukrainian drones targeted the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery, according to eyewitnesses and local media reports cited by Telegram channel ASTRA. The refinery, one of the country’s largest, was also targeted on Thursday night when it reportedly caught fire after sustaining damage in an airstrike.

In Simferopol, the administrative centre of Russian-annexed Crimea, region pro-Ukrainian monitoring group Crimean Wind reported that an oil depot located in proximity to the state-run district thermal power plant had caught fire, citing eyewitness reports and data from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, an open-source fire monitoring database.

According to Crimean Wind, the strikes came as part of a wider reported attack on military targets on the Crimean Peninsula, including the Kirovskoye airfield in Sevastopol, a frequent target of Ukrainian airstrikes.

Elsewhere in Russia, Ukrainian drones also targeted an oil depot in Uryupinsk, in the southern Volgograd region, with local residents reporting explosions and fires, according to ASTRA. Regional Governor Andrey Bocharov confirmed the attack, saying a fire had broken out after debris from downed Ukrainian drones struck the facility, though he reported no casualties.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed the strike on Uryupinsk, as well as a further attack on the Afipsky oil refinery in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, which it said was part of a wider strategy designed to reduce Russia’s “offensive potential and complicate the logistical support of its military units”.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has not commented on any of the overnight attacks, though on Sunday, it reported that 141 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight, including 35 over the western Bryansk region, 32 over annexed Crimea, 22 over the Krasnodar region, and 15 over the central Tula region.

Meanwhile, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that civilian infrastructure in the northeastern Sumy region had been subjected to overnight Russian drone strikes, in which a high-rise residential building sustained damages, though no casualties were reported.