MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine launched a sweeping drone attack on Russian regions on Wednesday, causing a fire at Rosneft's biggest oil refinery in what President Vladimir Putin said was an attempt to disrupt Russia's presidential election.
Russia and Ukraine have both used drones to strike critical infrastructure, military installations and troop concentrations in their more than two-year war, with Kyiv hitting Russian refineries and energy facilities in recent months.
The day after seriously damaging Lukoil's NORSI refinery, a Ukrainian drone attacked Rosneft's Ryazan oil refinery, Russia's seventh largest, 180 km (110 miles) from Moscow.
Russian media said around 60 drones had been destroyed over Russian sovereign territory over just several hours.
"The Ryazan oil refinery was attacked by a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)," Pavel Malkov, governor of the Ryazan region bordering the Moscow region to its north, said on the Telegram messaging app.
"A fire broke out as a result. According to preliminary information, there are injuries," he said, without elaborating.
Russia's RIA state news agency said four Ukrainian drones attacked the plant in the early hours, leading to a 175 sq m blaze. The fire was put out several hours later. The impact on its production was not immediately clear.
Unverified video footage posted on social media showed a plume of black smoke soaring above flames at the Ryazan plant, which refines about 12.7 million tonnes of oil a year, or 4.6% of the Russian total, according to industry sources.
REFINERY SECURITY TIGHTENED
It accounts for about 6.4% of Russia's gasoline production, 4.1% of diesel, 7.7% of fuel oil and 8.0% of aviation fuel, according to the sources. Full Russian production figures are no longer published.
A drone was destroyed by air defences on its approach to the Kirishi refinery, Russia's second largest, in the north of Russia, Alexander Drozdenko, the Leningrad region's governor, said. There was no impact on the refinery's work, he said.
Security around oil refineries, a key source of Russia's income, was tightened in some regions, Russian media reported.
More than 30 drones were destroyed in the air over the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Gusev, said on Telegram, adding there was only minor damage.
Putin in remarks published on Wednesday accused Kyiv of attempts to interfere with the March 15-17 presidential election through its attacks.
"The main goal, I have no doubt about it, is to - if not to disrupt the presidential elections in Russia - then at least somehow interfere with the normal process of expressing the will of citizens," Putin told Russia's RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television in a wide-ranging interview.
Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, is nearly certain to win the vote.
In the Belgorod region, falling debris from downed drones damaged a gas supply line and cut off power to some villages.