In ‘largest Ukrainian drone barrage’, major Russian refinery set ablaze; energy truce remains disputed
Yaroslavnefteorgsintez oil refinery plant. (Image courteszy: Wikimedia Commons)
New Delhi: A reported Ukrainian drone attack damaged the Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (Yanos) refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, which started a fire and that injured two workers. The strike came amid renewed attacks on energy infrastructure by Moscow and Kyiv despite US efforts to secure a pause.
The Russian news outlet Kommersant described the assault as the region’s “largest reported” drone attack of the war, exceeding the 93 drones Russian authorities said they intercepted in August. Russia’s defence ministry separately claimed 856 Ukrainian drones were downed nationwide. Neither figure has been independently verified, and neither should be read as the number of drones that struck the refinery.
Regional governor, Mikhail Yevrayev, said air-defence and electronic-warfare forces confronted 124 drones near the refinery, about 250 kilometres northeast of Moscow. The injured employees suffered shrapnel wounds and were taken to hospital, while emergency crews fought the blaze.
Falling debris shattered windows in apartment blocks and private homes and damaged vehicles, Yevrayev said. Authorities temporarily closed Yaroslavl airport, restricted a road towards Moscow and diverted public transport, subsequently lifting the transport restrictions.
Refinery damage and fuel supplies
Yanos has capacity to process about 15 million tonnes of crude annually and produces petrol, diesel and fuel oil. Previous Ukrainian attacks disrupted production, Reuters reported, but the company has not confirmed a shutdown or quantified output losses from Tuesday’s raid.
Ukraine has repeatedly struck Russian refineries and export facilities, saying these operations aim to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the war. Kyiv did not immediately comment on the reported Yaroslavl attack.
Russia also attacked Ukraine’s electricity network on Tuesday. The president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Moscow launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles. Ukrainian energy company DTEK reported that three thermal power plants were knocked offline, while officials announced outages in Kyiv and several other regions.
Disputed energy ceasefire
The president, Donald Trump, announced an energy ceasefire (RNA Media backlink needed here) in September and again on October 11, saying Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop targeting energy facilities. Neither side confirmed a functioning bilateral arrangement, and Ukrainian officials later disputed reports that Kyiv had accepted a separate 30-day pause in refinery strikes.
Zelenskyy told Fox News that Ukraine would consider halting such attacks if Russia stopped striking Ukrainian energy sites or Washington supplied patriot interceptor missiles for a month. Kyiv was willing to pay for the missiles, he said.
The dispute coincides with a US-Russia arrangement to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports. A tanker loaded with 40,000 tonnes of diesel left Russia in October, Reuters reported, but its operator said its destination was not finalized. A delivery to the United States has not been confirmed.
The US has scheduled talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi for November 10-11, with de-escalation among the stated topics. No specific energy ceasefire agreement has been announced for those discussions.
