Key facts
- Ukrainian long-range drones targeted three oil refineries in Russia: Ryazan, Perm, and Tatarstan.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the strikes on social media.
- The attacks are framed as a response to Russian strikes on Ukraine.
- A drone launch and storage site in Kursk Oblast and a target in Taganrog were also reportedly hit.
- Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have intercepted 306 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukrainian long-range drones targeted three oil refineries across Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on September 7. Zelensky stated that the strikes in the Ryazan, Perm, and Tatarstan regions were a response to Russian attacks on Ukraine. He also reported that Ukrainian drones hit a launch and storage site for strike drones in Russia's Kursk Oblast and another target in the Black Sea.
Reports from Telegram channels, some with geolocated details, indicated that the LUKOIL-Permnefteorgsintez refinery in Perm, located over 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine, was among the facilities struck. Videos purportedly showed Ukrainian drones flying over Perm with smoke rising from the refinery amid explosions. The Ryazan Oil Refinery Plant, part of Rosneft, was also reported to have been hit again, following previous attacks in May and July. This refinery has a capacity to process about 17 million tons of oil annually.
Additionally, NASA's FIRMS detected a thermal anomaly at the Taganrog-Central military airfield in Taganrog, near Rostov-on-Don, with local residents reporting an attack. The Kyiv Independent stated it could not verify the claims or the extent of damage. Ukraine's military had not commented on these specific reported attacks.
Without acknowledging the specific strikes, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on September 7 that it downed or intercepted 306 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over Perm Krai, Rostov Oblast, and Kursk Oblast. The reported strikes on the Perm refinery follow previous attacks that temporarily suspended operations in August. This facility processes over 13 million metric tons of crude oil annually. A pro-Ukraine partisan force, Atesh, had previously announced recruiting a defector who destroyed a communications tower near Perm, which reportedly aided subsequent drone strikes on the refinery.