Ukraine says it has hit a major Russian oil refinery with long-range drones

KYIV Ukraine AP Ukrainian drones struck a major oil refinery in Russia s Volgograd region for the second time in almost three months Ukraine s general staff explained Thursday Russian authorities did not confirm the attack although the local governor disclosed drones started a fire at an unspecified industrial facility in the region Ukraine s general staff revealed in a report that the attack took place the previous day The refinery is the largest producer of fuel and lubricants in Russia s Southern Federal District processing more than million tons of crude annually about of the country s total refining threshold according to Ukrainian officers Russia and Ukraine have traded almost daily assaults on each other s ability infrastructure as U S -led diplomatic efforts to stop the nearly four-year war make no impact on the battlefield Ukraine s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it necessities to pursue its full-scale invasion Russia wants to cripple the Ukrainian power grid seeking to deny civilians access to heat light and running water in what Kyiv administrators say is an attempt to weaponize winter Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted foreign countries are helping Kyiv in its efforts to keep the power grid operating amid Russia s onslaught Practically every day our power engineers repair brigades and the State Urgency Operation of Ukraine are carrying out restorations on-site after attacks hits keep occurring across various points especially in our communities and especially near the Russian territory line and close to the front Zelenskyy revealed late Wednesday Also saboteurs inside Russia burned dozens of locomotives in a bid to hamper the logistics of Russia s armed forces Ukraine s military intelligence announced Thursday The Freedom of Russia group used Molotov cocktails to set fire to the control and power supply systems of dozens of locomotives that transported military cargo according to a comment from GUR as the intelligence agency is known It was not viable to independently verify the claim nor did the comment say whether the GUR was involved in the operation Russian officers offered no immediate comment Ukraine meanwhile has attempted to strike targets on Russian soil with domestically developed long-range drones Ukrainian forces also struck three fuel lubricants facilities in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula and a storage and assembly base for Russia s Shahed drones in an occupied area of Ukraine s eastern Donetsk region the general staff message explained In the Kostroma region northeast of Moscow a Ukrainian aerial attack hit unidentified capacity infrastructure facilities Gov Sergei Sitnikov mentioned There were no casualties and power supplies were not disrupted he explained Unconfirmed media reports noted the attack targeted a hydroelectric power plant in the Kostroma region one of the biggest in Russia The Russian Defense Ministry announced Thursday its air defenses shot down drones overnight over multiple Russian regions and annexed Crimea Russia meantime attacked the city of Kamianske in Ukraine s eastern Dnipropetrovsk region with drones overnight killing one person and injuring eight others the head of the regional military administration Vladyslav Haivanenko explained on his official Telegram channel Several fires broke out and the roof of a four-story building was partially destroyed he mentioned The Russian military also continued its assault on Ukraine s rail infrastructure causing delays and journey changes in Ukraine s eastern regions of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk and in the southern Zaporizhzhia region Ukraine s state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia explained Russia attacked Ukraine with drones of various types overnight on Thursday Ukraine s air force reported