Russian oil refinery on fire amid huge wave of Ukrainian drone strikes

WorldPolitics
15 May 2026 • 6:54 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Russian oil refinery on fire amid huge wave of Ukrainian drone strikes

  • A major fire broke out at a Russian oil refinery in Ryazan, approximately 120 miles southeast of Moscow, following Ukrainian drone attacks on Friday.
  • Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, confirmed that his troops struck the Ryazan refinery and 23 other military targets and facilities in Russia and Ukraine overnight.
  • Russia's defence ministry claimed to have downed 355 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions during the night.
  • In Ryazan, three people were killed and 12 injured, with high-rise apartment buildings and local industry sustaining damage from the strikes.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Moscow to be punished after visiting a destroyed residential building in Kyiv, where a Russian missile strike earlier in the week killed 24 people, including three children.

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