Drones target one of Russia’s largest oil refineries

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, reported this.

"On the night of March 8, the Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) oil refinery in Russia's Leningrad region was attacked. It is located more than 800 km from the Ukrainian border," Kovalenko wrote.

He noted that KINEF is one of the largest oil refineries in Russia. Its processing capacity is approximately 20.1 million tons of oil per year, making it the second-largest refinery in the country after the Omsk Oil Refinery.

KINEF specializes in the production of gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, and other petroleum products.

Earlier, the governor of the region, Alexander Drozdenko, also reported the attack.

According to him, Russian air defense shot down one drone as it approached the facility and destroyed another one over the refinery’s territory.

At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry reported one destroyed drone over the Leningrad region. Additionally, they claimed to have shot down 26 drones over the Krasnodar region, three over the Bryansk region, and one over the Yaroslavl region.

Authorities in the Leningrad region reported that debris from the attack allegedly damaged the external structure of one of the refinery’s storage tanks. The governor stated that the consequences of the attack had supposedly been eliminated and that there were no casualties.

Amid the attack, Rosaviatsiya temporarily suspended flights at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, halting arrivals and departures for nearly an hour.

The Kirishi Oil Refinery (KINEF) is Russia’s largest refinery in terms of fuel production and a key enterprise in Kirishi. The facility is located approximately 793 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

• Meanwhile, on the evening of March 7, Russia launched drone strikes on Ukrainian territory. In particular, Odesa suffered a massive drone attack. In the Kharkiv region, there were civilian casualties.