A drone strike occurred on Sunday at an “industrial facility” about 400 kilometers east of Moscow, according to Russian authorities. Meanwhile, reports from Ukraine suggest that a significant oil refinery was hit during the incident.
Gleb Nikitin, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, reported a “massive drone attack” took place overnight and into Sunday morning, resulting in “significant damage to an industrial facility in the Kstovo district.”
Nikitin mentioned that “over a hundred drones were destroyed,” noting that preliminary information indicates no casualties, though he did not provide specific details regarding the facility’s operations.
Ukrainian media has claimed that the attack targeted the “Kstovo oil refinery,” one of the largest in Russia, responsible for producing fuels and lubricants.
This facility is known as the NORSI refinery, part of the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez complex, which ranks as the fourth largest oil refinery in Russia and is a key gasoline producer, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda and The Kyiv Independent.
On Friday, Russian authorities announced a resumption of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries after a brief pause, with Deputy Energy Minister Alexandr Novak stating that three refineries were struck that day.
In response to the Russian attacks that have devastated Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the large-scale invasion began in February 2022, Kiev has been regularly launching drone strikes against industrial targets in Russia. These operations aim to deplete hydrocarbon resources that finance the Kremlin’s war efforts.
