Russia-Ukraine war live: fire at major Russian oil refinery after drone attack

Russia blames Ukraine after fire at major oil refinery

Volgograd’s governor has now confirmed that a fire erupted at a major Russian oil refinery in the south-western region overnight after a drone attack blamed on Ukraine.

Ukraine has launched drone attacks on Russia for months after Moscow’s almost two-year offensive.

Governor Andrei Bocharov said on Telegram:

Last night, the air defence and electronic jamming repelled an attack by drones in the Volgograd region’s Kalachyovsky and Zakanalye districts.

A fire started at the Volgograd refinery after one of the downed drones fell.

He added that the fire service had already brought the blaze under control by the start of the morning.

Industry giant Lukoil, which operates the refinery, says on its website it is “the biggest producer of oil products in the federal south district” which covers eight regions of south-west Russia.

The plant is located south of the city of Volgograd. Local media V1 published photos it said showed an overnight explosion during the attack. A local resident told V1 they heard two explosions.