1 week ago
18
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Videos showed fireballs over a facility in Ryazan, 110 miles southeast of Moscow. Kyiv is seeking to disrupt Russian military logistics and put pressure on the country’s economy by striking its oil industry.
Jan. 24, 2025, 6:36 a.m. ET
Ukraine fired a large volley of exploding drones at Russia on Friday, according to Ukrainian officials and the Russian military, in a barrage that set an oil refinery and pumping station on fire and briefly closed multiple airports, including several serving Moscow.
The attack was the latest and one of the biggest in Ukraine’s campaign to disrupt Russian military logistics and to put pressure on the country’s economy by striking the oil industry that is Moscow’s main source of revenue.
Ukraine’s fleet of drones, which resemble small airplanes and have ranges of about 1,000 miles, have attacked Russian refineries and factories at least 17 times this year, and dozens of times in 2024. Ukraine has ramped up drone production over the past year and now routinely fires large volleys.
Social media posts by Russians showed fireballs erupting early Friday over a major refinery in Ryazan, a city about 110 miles southeast of Moscow.
The general staff headquarters of Ukraine’s military issued a statement saying military and intelligence agencies had coordinated on the drone attack and hit an oil refinery and oil pumping station in Ryazan, starting fires. In the nearby Bryansk region, the statement said, Ukrainian drones hit an electrical components factory that makes chips for fighter jets and missiles, including two models of Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Topol-M and Bulava.
Overall, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have downed 121 Ukrainian drones over 11 Russian regions plus Crimea and Moscow overnight Thursday to Friday.
