{"id":523486,"date":"2026-06-29T02:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T02:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/523486\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T02:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T02:35:13","slug":"ukrainian-forces-set-fire-to-large-russian-oil-refinery-in-drone-assault-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/523486\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian forces set fire to large Russian oil refinery in drone assault \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine<\/a> kept up its heavy drone assault on Russia<\/a>, setting fire to a large oil refinery in the south and killing at least two people, Russian authorities said on Sunday, as president Vladimir Putin<\/a> acknowledged his country is going through a \u201cdifficult period\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has markedly stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow\u2019s revenue for its invasion \u2013 now in its fifth year \u2013 and make Russians feel the consequences.<\/p>\n

The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries. According to western analysts, it has also slowed Moscow\u2019s efforts on the battlefield, heaping pressure on the Kremlin to come to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur \u2018long-range sanctions\u2019 reached two oil refineries in Russia,\u201d Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/a> wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"Ukraine’sUkraine\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka\/AP <\/p>\n

\u201cEach (strike) means a reduction in the resources that fuel the Russian war machine, and another step toward peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debris from downed Ukrainian drones sparked a blaze at the refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, a town in Russia\u2019s Krasnodar region east of occupied Crimea, according to governor Veniamin Kondratyev.<\/p>\n

The falling debris killed one person in Slavyansk and wounded another in a nearby village, local authorities said.<\/p>\n

The Slavyansk site is one of southern Russia\u2019s main refineries, processing close to four million tons of crude per year, according to its operator\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

It is also a key source of petroleum products intended for export through Russia\u2019s Black Sea ports, including fuel oil, naphtha and marine fuel.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy also claimed that a second Russian refinery, in the Yaroslavl region around 435 miles (700km) from the Ukrainian border, was hit during the night-time strikes.<\/p>\n

There were no immediate reports from Russian authorities about the strike on the Yaroslavl refinery.<\/p>\n

Local governor Mikhail Evraev reported on Sunday morning that some roads between Moscow and the region\u2019s capital, Yaroslavl, were temporarily closed because of \u201can enemy attack by Ukrainian drones\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yaroslavl\u2019s airport also briefly closed overnight, along with others in southern and western Russia, according to the country\u2019s civil aviation agency.<\/p>\n

For months, Ukraine has been stepping up attacks on energy facilities deep inside Russia.<\/p>\n

\"RussianRussian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow would \u2018honour all its social obligations\u2019 to citizens. Photograph: Ekaterina Shtukina\/Sputnik\/Kremlin Pool via AP <\/p>\n

Despite a raft of western sanctions, Moscow remains among the world\u2019s top exporters of oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n

More recently, Ukraine has attempted to choke off fuel deliveries to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in early 2014.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, Kremlin-installed officials in Crimea suspended petrol sales to civilians, after Kyiv\u2019s targeting of supply routes triggered the worst energy crisis there since the annexation.<\/p>\n

Putin commented on Sunday that the country was \u201cgoing through a difficult period\u201d, but said that Moscow would \u201chonour all its social obligations\u201d to citizens. He did not directly reference the Ukrainian strikes or fuel shortages.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally, we are adjusting certain plans in light of the current situation, but all strategically important (domestic) development programmes will undoubtedly be implemented in full,\u201d Putin said at a conference of his ruling United Russia party.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to build housing and roads, create new, modern, high-paying jobs, and support domestic businesses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going through a difficult period, but this has taught us a great deal, and allowed us to grasp the very essence of what it means to be a Russian citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Fresh Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries trigger fuel panic-buyingOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said Moscow was actively reviewing fuel export agreements to avoid compromising domestic needs.<\/p>\n

Fuel sales to civilians were also being restricted in Russia\u2019s Irkutsk region in Siberia, thousands of miles from the Ukrainian border, local governor Igor Kobzev announced on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Drivers will be barred from buying more than 50 litres (13 gallons) of fuel per vehicle per day at state-run Rosneft gas stations in the province, Kobzev said, adding that other petrol stations may set lower limits.<\/p>\n

At least two private petrol station networks in Siberia \u2013 KreisNeft in the Irkutsk region and Elke Auto in the Tomsk region further west \u2013 said earlier this month that they were limiting sales due to supply disruptions.<\/p>\n

\"PartPart of a Russian missile is removed following an air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. Photograph: Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP <\/p>\n

Russian strikes on the \u200bsoutheastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed two people and injured 16, regional governor Ivan Fedorov \u200bsaid on Telegram. Pictures posted online by the \u2060governor showed a building ablaze and \u200cparts \u200cof \u200ba neighborhood reduced to rubble.<\/p>\n

In the northeastern border region \u2060of \u200bKharkiv, a frequent Russian \u200btarget, a missile strike on the \u200ctown of Zmiiv \u200bkilled one person and injured eight, including \u2060two children, \u2060regional governor \u200bOleh Syniehubov said.<\/p>\n

Police in the Kharkiv region also said an officer was killed as he was trying to organise the evacuation of residents in another community \u200cfurther north.<\/p>\n

In Russia\u2019s border region of Belgorod, Ukrainian drone strikes killed one person and injured another earlier on Sunday, according to acting local governor Alexander Shuvayev.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s defence ministry said its forces shot down 213 Ukrainian drones during the night, including over Russia, occupied Crimea and the Black and Azov seas.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 142 long-range strike drones and eight missiles overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force. Of those, 125 drones and seven missiles were struck down, the air force said. \u2013 AP\/Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukraine kept up its heavy drone assault on Russia, setting fire to a large oil refinery in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,3589,40,38,41,39,9688,5936,58419],"class_list":["post-523486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine-crisis","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}