Russia’s second-largest oil refinery, located in the Leningrad region, has again come under drone attack. According to regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko, the attack sparked a fire, and emergency crews are working to deal with the aftermath, IPN reports.
According to the Astra Telegram channel and eyewitness footage, the strike on the refinery was followed by several powerful explosions, and at least two fires broke out at the oil facility. One of the fires engulfed a primary refining unit.
The oil refinery has a processing capacity of up to 21 million tonnes a year and supplies petroleum products to northwestern Russia, including the city of St. Petersburg and Pulkovo Airport. It produces gasoline, diesel, kerosene and petrochemicals. The refinery was targeted by several drone attacks both last year and this year. Following one such attack on August 30, it suspended operations after two primary refining units were damaged.
On October 29, the Ukrainian military launched a series of strikes on oil refineries and storage depots in Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously said that Ukraine could halt attacks on Russian refineries at the request of US President Donald Trump in exchange for US supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles for its air defense systems.
Meanwhile, oil giant Rosneft has reintroduced limits on petrol sales at its filling stations across all regions of Russia. According to Russian media, as of Monday morning, drivers can buy no more than 30 litres of petrol at urban filling stations and 50 litres at those along highways. Filling fuel cans is also prohibited. Rosneft first introduced these restrictions in June amid fuel shortages caused by attacks on refineries. The measures were later lifted at the end of October.
