Russia's largest oil refinery damaged by UAV attack

The governor of Russia's Krasnodar Krai region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said on his Telegram channel on June 21 that administrative buildings at the Ilsky oil refinery in the region were damaged by a nighttime attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Ilsky refinery is one of the country's largest. According to Reuters, it has the capacity to refine 6.6 million tonnes of crude oil per year, or 132,000 barrels per day.

“The civil infrastructure in our region has been heavily attacked by Kiev. In Krasnodar, the boiler house next to the Yuzhny bus station was damaged. In the Seversky district, administrative buildings at an oil refinery were damaged,” wrote Governor Kondratyev.

“Unfortunately, there have been casualties among the workers at these facilities. They are being provided with all necessary medical care,” he added.

The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the fire that broke out at the refinery due to debris from a falling drone was quickly extinguished.

Ukraine has not yet commented on the reported attack, but a campaign of attacks on Russian oil refineries since the beginning of the year has been publicly announced by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine.

Earlier on June 20, Russian officials said Ukrainian drones had attacked two Russian oil refineries, one in the Tambov region and one in the Republic of Adygea.

The Moscow Times reported on June 20 that at least 40 Russian oil depots and refineries have been attacked by drones since the beginning of the year, including some of the country's largest.

In March, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said Russian oil refineries were legitimate military targets because they supported the Russian economy in the conflict.

Reports suggest that US officials have asked Ukraine to refrain from targeting oil hubs to prevent potential disruption to global fuel markets. Pentagon intelligence last month estimated that at least 14% of Russia’s refining capacity had been disrupted by recent attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on June 21 that its forces shot down more than 100 drones launched by Ukraine on their way to attack Crimea, Krasnodar Krai and Russia's Volgograd region.

“An attempt by the Kiev authorities to carry out a terrorist attack using unmanned boats and unmanned aerial vehicles against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was prevented,” the ministry said.

The ministry's statement also said: "Air defense systems directly intercepted and destroyed 70 UAVs over the territory of the Republic of Crimea and the Black Sea, 43 UAVs over Krasnodar Krai and one UAV over the territory of Volgograd Oblast. In the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the naval aviation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet destroyed six unmanned boats of the Ukrainian Navy."