Ukrainian drones hit Russian pipeline, refinery, and fuel depot overnight

Ukrainian drones struck targets across several Russian regions overnight, including an oil pipeline pumping station, a refinery and a fuel depot, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday. 

Ukraine's General Staff said it had struck the Saratov oil refinery on the Volga River, causing a large fire. Saratov regional governor Roman Busargin said on Telegram that "civilian infrastructure" had been damaged in the strike, but provided no further details.

"During the night, our soldiers applied Ukraine's long-range sanctions against an oil refinery in Saratov, Russia. This is about 700 kilometres from the front line," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Not all the drones struck their targets. Russia's Defence Ministry said it had downed 216 Ukrainian drones overnight.

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Major fire breaks out after drone hits fuel depot

Kyiv said it had also struck the Lazarevo pumping station in the Kirov region, northeast of Moscow and around 1,300 kilometres from territory controlled by Ukraine. 

Kirov regional governor Alexander Sokolov said drones had hit a facility in the region, but gave no further information.

In Russia’s Rostov region, authorities in Matveyev Kurgan reported a major fire after drones hit a fuel depot in the town bordering Ukraine’s Donbas region. Ukraine confirmed the strike, which targeted a site adjacent to Russian-held parts of the Donetsk region.

Governors in the Voronezh and Belgorod regions, both of which border Ukraine, also reported damage, with three civilians injured in Belgorod.

In Russian-controlled Crimea, Moscow-backed governor Sergei Aksyonov said authorities were introducing restrictions on sales of petrol sales.

He did not say why, but Ukraine has for months been attacking fuel infrastructure in southwestern Russia, close to Crimea.

Alleged strike on nuclear plant

Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 229 drones overnight, of which 212  were downed over northern and eastern Ukraine.

Russia accused Ukraine of hitting a garage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in occupied Ukrainian territory on Sunday.

Ukraine's foreign ministry denied the allegation, which followed a separate accusation of a strike on the plant on Saturday, which Ukraine also denied.

• IAEA reports damage at Zaporizhzhia's nuclear plant in Ukraine after drone strike

The UN nuclear  watchdog, which has inspectors at the Russian-occupied and administered plant, said on Sunday its team observed damage to a turbine building caused by drones on Saturday, but did not specify whose drones.

It said that radiation levels at the site remained normal.

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Russia Ukraine War Zaporizhzhia Politics Moscow