Four people were killed and two others were injured when Ukrainian drones struck an industrial zone in the southern Russian city of Volgograd overnight, regional governor Andrei Bocharov said on Friday. Reuters described the strike as the deadliest attack on the city so far.
Volgograd is home to a large oil refinery run by Lukoil. Unverified video posted on social media purported to show a large fire at the refinery, but there was no official confirmation that the refinery itself was attacked, and Lukoil did not reply to a request for comment.
On the same night, dozens of Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow, disrupting flight operations at several of the region’s major airports, according to Russian officials. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defences intercepted more than 100 drones bound for the capital between 9:34 p.m. and 2:08 a.m. local time, and Russia’s aviation agency Rosaviatsiya restricted operations at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports. These drone numbers are claims by Russian officials that could not be independently confirmed.
In Rostov-on-Don, fires burned at a production facility and a warehouse after Ukrainian strikes, and debris from downed drones damaged a residential building, according to Rostov Oblast Governor Yury Slyusar.
The attacks came a day after trilateral peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi. Ukraine has sharply stepped up attacks on Russian oil refineries since the end of October, after an energy ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump failed to take hold. Such attacks have temporarily reduced Russia’s oil refining capacity by about 30%, two industry sources told Reuters this week.
Source: Reuters, with additional reporting from The Kyiv Independent.
