Ukrainian drones reportedly strike Russia’s Volgograd oil refinery

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Volgograd oil refinery overnight Feb. 11, setting the site ablaze, local media reported.

Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier claimed that it had shot down 48 Ukrainian drones in several regions, not including over Volgograd Oblast itself.

The refinery is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil and was struck by drones for the first time this year, Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported.

Kyiv regularly strikes deep within Russia and Ukraine’s occupied territories in an effort to diminish the Kremlin’s fighting power.

Ukraine considers Moscow’s energy sites military targets as they fund Russia’s war against Ukraine.

On Feb. 7, Ukraine attacked Russia’s Bryansk Oblast with Neptune missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), targeting energy infrastructure and disrupting the power supply, Governor Alexander Bogomaz claimed.

On Feb. 8, the pro-Ukrainian Atesh partisan group disabled communication infrastructure in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, the group claimed.

“An agent of our movement set fire to a hardware module at the base of a communication tower. As a result of the destruction of the ground equipment, all the infrastructure installed on the mast was completely de-energized and put out of action,” the Atesh group announced.