Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Lukoil Refinery, Military Airfield as Russia Claims 325 UAVs Downed

Key Points:

• Ukrainian drones struck the Perm oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest and most advanced refineries, causing a fire; the refinery supplies both domestic and military needs and is located over 1,600 km from Ukraine’s border.
• The Ukrainian General Staff also reported strikes on the Marynovka military airfield in Volgograd and a drone storage and launch facility in Primorsko-Akhtarsk, damaging a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber at Akhtubinsk airfield.
• The Perm refinery has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone attacks since April, disrupting fuel production and damaging key refining units, alongside strikes on other Russian refineries in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Orenburg, Tyumen, Saratov, and Volgograd regions.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 325 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions and over the Azov and Black seas, though these figures have not been independently verified.
• Ukrainian President Zelensky emphasized the use of long-range strikes as a form of retaliation in the ongoing conflict, praising the precision and effectiveness of Ukrainian defense forces.