Ukraine said its drones hit two oil refineries in the Russian city of Ufa, the latest in a wave of strikes on its foe’s energy infrastructure that have led to fuel shortages.
The drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) struck the Ufaneftekhim and Bashneft Novoil refineries, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Telegram statement on Thursday.
The attacks caused a fire at the two facilities’ primary processing units, SBU said in a separate statement. The plants in question are owned by Rosneft, Russia’s top oil producer and refiner.
Kyiv stepped up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure late last year, seeking to turn the tide against an invasion that is now in its fifth year. Since then, Ukraine has intensified its targeting of refineries, causing processing rates to plunge and fuel-supply issues in Moscow and elsewhere.
Radiy Khabirov, a regional governor, said in a Telegram statement earlier that an attack was repelled but “drone debris fell in the industrial area”. There were no injuries and all “the facilities are operating normally”, he said.
Images from Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System taken on Thursday showed a relatively fresh heat signature on the site of the Ufa oil refinery that could suggest a blaze.
Ukraine’s refinery strikes set a record in May, forcing Russia’s oil-processing rates runs to drop to a 20-year low at the start of June. Damage to the plants, including an attack on a facility in Moscow last week, has triggered panic buying of petrol, driving up pump prices and disrupting supplies across many parts of the country.
Ukraine last targeted oil-processing facilities in Ufa as recently as April. The city hosts the Ufa oil refinery, the Bashneft Novoil refinery, the Ufaneftekhim refinery, as well as the Ufaorgsintez petrochemical plant, all of which are owned by Rosneft. The facilities have a combined design capacity of around 460,000 barrels a day.
Ufa is about 1,750km northeast of Kyiv and the attacks underscore Ukraine’s ability to reach deep into Russian territory.
Calling the fuel-supply situation “difficult but manageable”, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said earlier this week that Russia was considering a full ban on diesel exports in addition to halting foreign sales of petrol and jet fuel.
On Wednesday, politicians passed tax code amendments designed to boost the domestic gasoline market, the Interfax news service reported.
France’s navy, meanwhile, seized another tanker it said was linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” on Thursday, underscoring the escalation this year in European efforts to enforce sanctions and squeeze one of Moscow’s main revenue streams.
Nine suspected shadow fleet tankers, vessels shipping oil and gas to skirt western sanctions, have now been seized across Europe since the start of 2026, including four by France.
Britain seized an oil tanker in the English Channel last week.
Another three suspected shadow fleet tankers have been inspected as part of a European naval mission in the Mediterranean, a western military source said.
Moscow has called such actions illegal.
“We will not let the shadow fleet circumvent sanctions and finance the Russian war effort,” French president Emmanuel Macron said on social media after announcing the seizure of the Deliver, adding: “Europe is determined.”
The tanker left Primorsk, one of Russia’s main oil export terminals, and was intercepted near Sicily as it headed towards the Suez Canal en route to Singapore.
European Union countries are negotiating a 21st package of sanctions against Russia. But Moscow has adapted to most measures and continues to sell millions of barrels of oil to countries such as India and China, usually at discounted prices. – Additional reporting: Reuters/Bloomberg