Ukraine says struck Russian oil site, electronics plant

KYIV: The Ukrainian military confirmed on Friday that Kyiv had launched an overnight drone attack on Russia, claiming to have struck an oil refinery, power station facilities and an electronics plant.

Moscow had earlier said that its air defence systems shot down 121 Ukrainian drones over 12 regions and the occupied Crimean peninsula.

The Ukrainian General Staff said Ukrainian drones had struck "one of the largest oil refineries in Russia" in the Ryazan region south of Moscow and facilities at a thermal power plant in the same region.

It said in the same statement on social media that the damaged microelectronics plant was located in the western Bryansk region bordering Ukraine.

Russian state media had earlier reported that the plant in Bryansk had suspended operations after six drones struck production and storage facilities at the factory.

Pavel Malkov, the governor of the Ryazan region, confirmed in a statement that a fire had broken out at an "enterprise," without elaborating, saying the blaze was sparked by falling drone fragments and no one was injured.

"The systematic and targeted destruction of facilities that supply the Russian occupation army with fuel and lubricants and military equipment will continue until the Russian Federation´s armed aggression against Ukraine is completely stopped," the Ukrainian military added in its statement.

Moscow targeted

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Friday that air defences had intercepted attacks by Ukrainian drones at four locations around the Russian capital.

Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, said air defences southeast of the capital in Kolomna and Ramenskoye had repelled "enemy" drones, without specifying how many.

"At the site where fragments fell, no damage or casualties occurred," Sobyanin wrote. "Specialist emergency crews are at the site."

Sobyanin said two drones also headed for Moscow had been downed by air defences in Podolsk, south of the capital, and he reported a single drone downed in Troitsky, southwest of the capital and in Shchyolkovo, to the northeast.

Russian news agencies quoted Rosaviatsiya, the federal aviation agency, as saying two Moscow airports, Vnukovo and Domodedovo, were handling flights after suspending operations for a time. Six flights were redirected to other airports.

In the city of Kursk, Mayor Igor Kutsak said the overnight attack had damaged power lines and cut off electricity to one city district.

The Defence Ministry statement said drones had also been destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod and the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula. The Saratov, Rostov, Voronezh, Tula, Oryol and Lipetsk regions were also targeted.