Ukraine hits two Russian oil refineries in 'long-range' attacks, says Zelensky

Summary

Ukraine's President Zelensky says the country's military has hit two Russian oil refineries in "long-range" attacks
Zelensky says refineries in Bashkortostan and Yaroslavl were hit - in Yaroslavl, huge clouds of black smoke were seen over the city
Russia's regional governor in Yaroslavl calls it the "largest ever attack by enemy drones", saying 92 drones have been destroyed, with three homes catching fire
Across Russia, the military says it has intercepted and destroyed 605 Ukrainian drones in multiple regions, including Yaroslavl
Ukraine has launched a series of strikes on Russian infrastructure in recent weeks, including refineries and warehouses
In Ukraine, officials say three people have been killed in a Russian drone attack on a residential area

Live Reporting

Edited by Rorey Bosotti and Tinshui Yeung

Verified material shows several smoke plumes at Yaroslavl refinerypublished at 09:01 BST
By Paul Brown, Peter Mwai and Fridon Kiria
We have verified multiple videos and images shared on social media showing huge smoke plumes rising from one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries at Yaroslavl, some 280km (170 miles) north-east of the capital, Moscow.
Ukrainian media reported the facility was set ablaze following a drone attack early on Thursday.
In one of the verified images on social media there appear to be at least four fires at the site, which is about 700km (430 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
Image source, Telegram
Most of the clips appear to have been captured by people living in the city of Yaroslavl itself, several miles away from the refinery.
Image source, Telegram
Ukraine hits two Russian oil refineries - Zelenskypublished at 08:50 BST
Breaking
Image source, EPA
Ukraine has struck two oil refineries in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky says.
In a social media post, he writes that Ukraine's Defence Forces struck the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl and the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Bashkortostan.
Earlier, we reported that black smoke was rising from the direction of the Yaroslavl oil refinery after Ukrainian drone attacks. Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Evraev says the Ukrainian drones attacking the region have been destroyed, but falling debris has caused three houses to catch fire.
Zelensky says they also struck two military patrol boats and vessels from Russia's shadow fleet in the Black Sea.

Houses catch fire in Ukrainian drone attack as casualties unconfirmed - Yaroslavl governorpublished at 08:32 BST
We can now bring you more from Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Evraev.
He says that while all the Ukrainian drones attacking the region have been destroyed, falling debris has caused three houses to catch fire and has shattered windows in several apartment buildings. He also describes damage to vehicles.
Information on casualties is being "clarified", he says.
Image source, Social media
Image caption,
Smoke seen rising from the direction of the oil refinery in Yaroslavl, in a social media video verified by the BBC
Three killed and several injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine, officials saypublished at 08:13 BST
Image source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Image caption,
In Balakliya, houses were set on fire after Russian attacks, according to officials
As Ukraine launched more than 600 drones at Russia overnight, attacks continued the other way.
In the Ukrainian city of Balakliya, the state emergency service says three were killed as Russian drones attacked a residential neighbourhood.
It adds that fires broke out in homes as a result of the attacks.

Yaroslavl region targeted multiple times in recent monthspublished at 08:08 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
President Zelensky, speaking last month
This is not the first time energy infrastructure in Yaroslavl has been targeted by Ukrainian strikes.
"Deep strikes" were carried out on oil facilities in the region last month, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a Telegram post on 27 July.
He described the attack as part of an effort to "reduce Russia's ability to finance the war". He also describes having struck an oil facility in the region in a Telegram post on 14 June.
Meanwhile, Russia's Mikhail Evraev - governor of Yaroslavl - has described drone attacks on the region on multiple occasions in recent months, including on 6 July, 10 July, 16 July and 23 July, although his posts do not reference the refinery directly.
Yaroslavl refinery 'makes 15m tonnes of crude oil annually'published at 08:06 BST
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Slavneft-Yanos pictured in 2012
The Slavneft-Yanos refinery is based in the city of Yaroslavl, hundreds of miles from the border with Ukraine.
It's one of the top five largest refineries in Russia, and was built in 1961.
It has been attacked by Ukraine before throughout the conflict.
Its website claims that it "makes about 15 million tonnes of crude oil annually", and its products include fuel for cars, jet fuel, and a wide range of oils.
It employs 3,500 people.

Russia destroyed 605 drones overnight, defence ministry sayspublished at 08:05 BST
The Russian defence ministry says overnight, air defence forces intercepted and destroyed 605 Ukrainian drones.
This occurred over several territories, including the Moscow Region and the Black Sea, as well as Yaroslavl - home to the Slavneft-Yanos oil refinery.
Black smoke rises in Russian city after Ukrainian drone attackpublished at 08:03 BST
Breaking
Thick black smoke is rising over the Russian city of Yaroslavl this morning following a Ukrainian drone attack.
The region’s governor Mikhail Evraev says the region faced its largest-ever enemy attack, adding that they destroyed 92 drones.
Yaroslavl is home to one of the largest oil refineries in Russia and has been targeted by Ukraine in recent months.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, three people were killed in Russian strikes on the city of Balakliya, according to officials, and 12 were injured in Sumy.
The Russian Defence Ministry says it struck two vessels transporting military goods in the port of Odesa last night.
We’ll continue to bring you updates from our teams across the region - stick with us.