A series of drone movements has oil and electrical infrastructure refineries in western Russia, according to regional officials.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility – but the latest wave of attacks comes as part of an escalating campaign against Russian energy facilities in recent weeks.
Drones movements have been informed in several Russian regions, adding Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk, Tver and Bryansk, fires and triggering air defense responses.
While there were no reported casualties, an oil refinery in the city of Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod, suffered significant damage.
Local telegram channels have said that the drones hit the “Lukoil Nizhegorodneftingantante” oil refinery, in a giant chimney that has taken hours to overpower, the independent Kyiv reported.
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Video footage circulating online has shown flames applied at the facility, which local surveillance teams have known to be the primary target of the attack.
Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin confirmed that air defence systems had intercepted multiple drones, with debris from downed UAVs falling on the industrial site. No injuries were reported.
Former Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko, who among those sharing the images, said: “Residents report that the chimney is getting stronger. “
In the Smolensk region, Governor Vasily Anakhin described a civil infrastructure of “mass drone attack. “
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Russian telegram channels bring back a primary smokestack at the oil refinery in Kstovo, a region of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, after a drone strike. The population reports that the chimney is fortalece. pic. twitter. com/f23dmzzdwe
A drone intercepted while trying to attack a nuclear force facility, Anokhin said.
Meanwhile, in the Tver region, air defenses destroyed several drones in the city of Andreapol, which houses about 8,000 people, according to Governor Igor Rudenya.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said the aerial defenses had fired 26 drones above the Bryansk region.
Bryansk, who is west of the highly militarized Oblast Kursk and north of the Obasts of Chernihiv and Sumy in Ukraine, saw a higher drone activity, but has indicated any injury or damage.
Such movements are of a sustained Ukrainian effort to aim at the Russian energy infrastructure, which has intensified in recent weeks.
In early January, Ukrainian drones would have reached several oil refineries in Krasnodar Krai, Ryazan and St. Petersburg, interrupting operations.
kyiv has increasingly resorted to long -range drones attacks to undermine the electricity sector of Russia, a component of its economy in times of war.
Russia, directed through President Vladimir Putin, has declared the expanding frequency of such aggression insists that his aerial defenses effectively repel most threats.
However, reports of fires and damage to strategic sites suggest Ukraine’s drone campaign is having a tangible impact.
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