
Ukraine claimed it hit a major oil refinery that supplies Moscow and its airports, as part of a record drone barrage ahead of talks between Kyiv and the US over a potential ceasefire.
Drones hit the Moscow refinery overnight, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a Telegram post. In Russia, the regional unit of emergencies ministry said in a Telegram statement that debris of a UAV with an unexploded warhead was found in Moscow’s district of Kapotnya, where the refinery is located, and was “successfully neutralized.”
Gazprom Neft PJSC, which owns the refinery, said the facility was operating normally, according to a statement from its press office. It wasn’t possible to independently verify Ukraine’s claims or assess any damage to the refinery.
Ukraine launched a record number of drones on Russia overnight, with air defenses shooting down 337 drones including dozens that targeted Moscow, Russian officials said early Tuesday. Top officials from the US and Ukraine began talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to explore the potential for reaching a ceasefire.
The Moscow facility is one of Russia’s largest refineries, with design crude-processing capacity of about 257,000 barrels a day. It supplies more than a third of the fuel market in the capital region, including Moscow airports, according to its website. Ukrainian drones hit the facility last year, forcing it to briefly suspend operations at one of the processing units in September.
Kyiv has intensified attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure targeting refineries and oil-pumping stations almost on a daily basis as the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine has entered its fourth year. Repeated drone attacks on a key industry aim to curtail Russia’s ability to send fuel to the front line and limit Moscow’s revenue from oil sales.
The overnight strike also led to explosions at an oil-product pipeline operation control station in the Orel region, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. Transneft, which operates oil and products pipelines in Russia, didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg request for a comment.
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