Russian officials report oil refinery fire after Ukraine targets border regions with dozens of drones

 

A digital image of Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing his annual end-of-year news conference, which will be held on Dec. 19, 2024, appears on the facade of a skyscraper in Saint Petersburg on Dec. 18, 2024.

Officials in Russia’s Rostov region reported a fire Thursday at an oil refinery after a wave of attacks from several dozen Ukrainian aerial drones.

Rostov acting Governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram that the fire happened at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery and was later extinguished. Slyusar reported one person was injured in the attack.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones over Rostov, part of a total of 84 drones it shot down mostly over regions bordering Ukraine.

The ministry said the other intercepts took place over Bryansk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Tambov and Krasnodar.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that Ukrainian drone attacks damaged several residential buildings.

Ukraine’s military said Thursday its air defenses shot down 45 of 85 Russian drones used in overnight attacks targeting the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava and Sumy regions.

The military also said Russian missiles damaged residential buildings and municipal property in Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram that the areas damaged included a school and a hospital in Kryvyi Rih.

Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

By：VOA