Russia was today targeted by a wave of attacks by Ukrainian drones, which struck as far as the Leningrad region (northwestern Russia), which is far from Ukraine, and caused fires at energy facilities in two other regions.

This is one of the most significant drone strikes against Russian territory since the start of the offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it destroyed during the night a total of 25 Ukrainian drones, mainly in the regions of Moscow (2), Leningrad (1), as well as in those of Belgorod (11), Kursk (11) and Bryansk (1), all three of which border Ukraine.

This morning, drone strikes attributed to Ukrainian forces also targeted Ariol and Kstovo, two Russian cities located respectively 160 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and 450 kilometers east of the Russian capital, according to local authorities. .

Energy installations are burning

Fires broke out at an oil refinery and an oil storage facility following the attacks, according to regional governors.

In the industrial zone of Kstovo, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, an oil refinery was attacked by drones and a fire broke out there, according to regional governor Gleb Nikitin.

“The special services are working on the spot, using all the forces and all the means necessary to contain the fire at one of the oil refining facilities,” he wrote on his Telegram account, clarifying that there were no casualties.

The governor of the Ariol region, Andrei Klitskov, announced for his part that “an unmanned aircraft crashed in Ariol. A fuel and energy complex was attacked.”

“Special services are working on site to bring the fire under control. There are no casualties,” Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

According to an official of the rescue services, cited by the Ria Novosti agency, a tank containing petroleum products caught fire. Local media reported that the attack took place around 03:00 (local time, 02:00 Greek time).

Russian regions became targets

Ukrainian drones also attacked Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, last night, causing no injuries but damaging a power line, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

“Belgorod region was attacked by Ukrainian forces with drones which dropped four explosive devices,” Gladkov said via Telegram.

According to him, because of this attack, electricity has been cut off in seven communities.

Finally, an unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down this morning in Kirisi, in the Leningrad region, which is hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine, announced local governor Alexander Drozdenko.