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Ukrainian long-range drones struck the KINEF oil refinery in Kirishi, in Russia’s Leningrad region, on Monday, sparking a large fire at one of the country’s biggest refineries, according to monitoring channels and local residents.
Residents reported an attack on the refinery and a fire on the plant’s grounds, the Exilenova+ monitoring channel said on Telegram. It was the first attack on the Kirishi refinery since August, the channel said.
The plant has a capacity of more than 20 million tons of oil a year.
A large fire broke out after a series of explosions, and footage showed several fires across the site, according to the channel. There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities on damage or casualties.
Preliminary data indicate possible hit zones at three crude distillation units, ELOU-AVT-6, ELOU-AT-6 and ELOU-AVT-2, the Supernova+ channel reported, citing coordinates on the plant’s territory.
The reports could not be independently verified.
Attacks in the Leningrad region were continuing, Exilenova+ said, adding that regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko had reported on the attack. Some footage initially attributed to Kirishi was later identified by viewers as filmed in Vsevolozhsk, the channel said.
The channel also reported that a wind turbine was hit in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian refineries in recent weeks after a pause. Last month, the U.S. threatened to halt deliveries under NATO’s PURL weapons program over Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, though the threat was not carried out, Bloomberg reported.
The strike came as U.S. President Donald Trump said Ukraine would emerge from the war with a different territorial shape. "I think we’re gonna have it done, and I think it’s gonna happen and they’re gonna end up with a little bit different shape Ukraine," Trump told CBS' 60 Minutes.
Trump said the biggest obstacle to peace "was the hatred between Zelenskyy and Putin."
"I believe that war is going to end, and it’s gonna end soon. And the only reason it’s gonna end is because of me," he said.
Asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was stringing him along, Trump said: "Oh, I don’t think so. There’s been nobody that’s been tougher on Russia than me."
He denied lifting diesel sanctions, saying he "made it possible for Russia to give to the world" diesel it needed.
"I give it to Europe, sell it at full price, and they pay us," Trump said of U.S. weapons for Ukraine. On a reported Starlink slowdown, he said: "I can’t tell you who turned it down. I can tell you ultimately he turned it back up and so they have it."
U.S.-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner representing Washington.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said some progress had been made on the "postwar security infrastructure of Ukraine and more broadly of the European continent."
"Nothing’s been finalized yet, and maybe some progress can be made in Abu Dhabi," he said, as attention turns to the Kirishi refinery strike’s impact.
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