Ukraine struck an oil refinery in north-western Russia with a drone, igniting a blaze about 100 kilometres south-east of Saint Petersburg. Footage on social media showed large flames above the facility; the fire has since been extinguished.

Both Russia and Ukraine reported the attack. No injuries were recorded, according to the governor of Russia’s Leningrad region. Authorities said debris from one of three downed drones caused the fire. The scale of the damage has not yet been determined.

Russia’s defence minister stated that its forces shot down 361 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours, including 80 overnight.

The refinery in Kirishi is among Russia’s largest, with output of 355,000 barrels of oil per day, accounting for 6.4 per cent of national oil production. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three and a half years ago, Kyiv has regularly attacked oil facilities inside Russia to disrupt fuel supplies for the Russian military and to strike a significant source of revenue.

Source: NOS