Ukrainian drone attack sets Russia's major Kirishi oil refinery on fire, governor says

A Ukrainian drone struck the Kirishi oil refinery, Russia's second-largest, ‌in an overnight attack that set it on fire, the governor of the northwestern Leningrad region said on Monday, adding that one woman had died in the attack.

The region is a major export outlet for grain and ‌oil in the Russian part of the Baltic Sea. The attack is the latest in a series ‌of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Kyiv has stepped up since the end of October after an energy ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump failed to take hold in a meaningful way.

Ukraine has targeted the Kirishi refinery several ⁠times before. The ​refinery has a capacity ⁠of 20 million metric tons, or about 400,000 barrels per day. Unverified social media video showed what looked like a major blaze ⁠at the facility.

The governor, Alexander Drozdenko, said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that authorities had contained ​the fire at the refinery and were dealing with the aftermath. He added that a woman had ⁠been killed by drone debris that fell on the roof of her apartment building in the town of Vsevolozhsk.

Drozdenko said air defence ⁠forces ​had downed 113 Ukrainian drones in total overnight and that the attack had also damaged an apartment in the town of Kirishi. The refinery, formally known as Kirishinefteorgsintez, is located about 800 km (500 miles) ⁠from the Ukrainian border.

Trump has blamed Ukraine's refinery attacks for rising diesel and gasoline prices in the ⁠United States, where soaring fuel ⁠costs helped rival Democrats to win Tuesday's midterm legislative elections. Trump has since said that his decision — with Israel — to attack Iran played a major role ‌in causing fuel prices ‌to spike.