Moscow, 4 October 2025 (dpa/MIA) – One of Russia's largest oil refineries near the north-western city of St Petersburg caught fire after a fresh Ukrainian drone attack, the region's governor confirmed on Saturday.

The blaze in the industrial zone of the city of Kirishi was later extinguished, the Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko wrote on Telegram.

Air defences shot down seven drones, according to Drozdenko. Videos of the night-time strikes were also posted by social media users.

The Ukrainian General Staff later confirmed the attack on the refinery.

This was the second attack on the refinery in a few weeks. Kirishi, located 800 kilometres north of Ukraine, is home to the Kirishinefteorgsintez refinery, also known as Kinef, which is owned by the Kremlin-linked oil company Surgutneftegas.

With a processing capacity of around 20 million tons of oil per year, it is one of the largest oil facilities in Russia.

Damage was also sustained in an attack in the southern Russian region of Voronezh. Governor Alexander Gusev wrote of damage to the roof and windows of an industrial building, but gave no further details.

The Russian military reported shooting down 117 Ukrainian drones during the night.

Oil industry focus

Ukraine has increasingly used drones to target Russian oil facilities as it fights to repel the full-scale invasion launched by the Kremlin in February 2022.

Kiev's aim is to disrupt the Russian military's fuel supply and deprive Moscow of an important source of revenue for financing the war.

According to reports, Ukraine has now been able to disable about a quarter of Russia's oil processing facilities with drone attacks.

MIA file photo