A major fire broke out at the Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) refinery near St Petersburg overnight on 14 September after Ukrainian drones struck the facility. Telegram channels shared videos showing a drone strike and flames at the site.

Ukrainian drones strike fuel-producing giant near St Petersburg

The refinery, located in the city of Kirishi in Leningrad Oblast, roughly 100 km southeast of St Petersburg and 800 km north of Ukraine’s border, is among Russia’s top 10 oil-processing facilities.

According to Ukrainian Telegram channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+, drones struck the plant, triggering a fire. Satellite data from NASA’s FIRMS wildfire monitoring platform confirmed a high-temperature anomaly over the facility starting at 3:56 on 14 September, Militarnyi noted.

Second strike on the same facility in six months

This is not the first time the KINEF refinery has come under attack. Ukrainian drones targeted the same facility on 8 March 2025, damaging a fuel storage tank. At the time, governor Drozdenko also blamed the damage from a direct drone hit on “debris”: “During the fall of debris, the external structure of one of the reservoirs was damaged,” he wrote back then.

Meanwhile, Astra also relayed a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense claiming Russian air defense forces had intercepted 80 Ukrainian drones overnight across several oblasts. According to the ministry, this included 2 drones over Leningrad Oblast, where Kirishi is located, along with other interceptions over Bryansk, occupied Crimea, Smolensk, Kaluga, Novgorod, Oryol, Ryazan, and Rostov oblasts, and the Azov Sea area.

Ukrainian Naval Forces conducted a strike against a Russian Black Sea Fleet communication facility in occupied Crimea during the early hours of 11 September, according to an official Navy statement.

The operation targeted the 184th Research Experimental Base in Sevastopol, which housed a communication node responsible for coordinating Black Sea Fleet operations, the Navy reported. The facility served as a command and control center for Russian naval units operating in the region.

The military statement confirmed the strike occurred “on the night of September 11th” but did not disclose specific details about the extent of damage caused by the attack.

The targeted installation is situated in Kozacha Bay, according to the monitoring group “Crimean Wind,” which tracks military activities in the peninsula. 

In April 2022, Ukraine sank Russia’s flagship missile cruiser Moskva using Neptune anti-ship missiles and recently, drone strikes disabled a Russian MPSV07 vessel near Novorossiysk, damaging electronic reconnaissance capabilities.

Astra has identified the Russian ship hit in the Black Sea by a Ukrainian aerial long-range drone on 10 September as Spasatel Ilyin. The captain was hospitalized with shrapnel injuries. Ukraine’s intelligence confirmed earlier today that the vessel was damaged and disabled.

Spasatel Ilyin confirmed as the target

According to Russian news Telegram channel Astra, a Ukrainian drone struck Spasatel Ilyin, an MPSV07-class vessel, near Yuzhnaya Ozereevka during the day on 10 September. The drone hit the ship’s bridge, injuring the captain, Roman Goroshkov. He was hospitalized with multiple wounds.

Local authorities did not acknowledge the incident. The mayor only reported drone debris allegedly hitting a non-residential building near the city and denied any casualties.

Ship disabled, systems destroyed

On the morning of 11 September, Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) said that Russia’s Russian Black Sea Fleet ship was struck near Novorossiysk. According to the report, the drone destroyed the ship’s navigation, communication, and electronic reconnaissance systems. The vessel was declared disabled and in need of expensive repairs.

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Vessel used for reconnaissance

Though officially listed as a civilian rescue vessel, Spasatel Ilyin was reportedly used for military and intelligence purposes. It was equipped with sonar, diving systems, and electronic surveillance tools, according to HUR.

In the early hours of 7 September 2025, Ukrainian forces launched a coordinated series of deep strikes on Russian territory, targeting two of the most strategically important fuel infrastructure sites — the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai and the 8-N pipeline pumping station near the village of Naitopovichi in Bryansk Oblast.

Strategic Druzhba pipeline hub hit for second time

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a precision drone strike targeted the 8-N linear production dispatching station (LPDS) near Naitopovichi village located in Unecha District, Bryansk Oblast. The site is linked to Russia’s Druzhba — a pipeline network used to export oil.

The Naitopovichi-based station is part of the “Steel Horse” mainline pipeline complex, with a pumping capacity of 10.5 million tons per year.

The Ukrainian military described the facility as having “strategic importance for the transportation of oil products for the Russian occupation army.” They reported multiple direct hits, followed by fires in the area of the pumping station and tank park.

Commander of the Armed Forces’ Drone Systems, Robert Brovdi (“Madyar”), also confirmed the strike, noting that the 8-N facility plays a key role in transferring petroleum products from Belarus’s Mozyr and Novopolotsk refineries into Russia.

Brovdi shared aerial footage showing a fire at the facility, and emphasized that the strike was part of a broader campaign against Russian oil infrastructure and hinted at more operations to come: “To be continued…”

This marks the second confirmed Ukrainian strike on the 8-N station. On 29 August, Ukrainian forces had already attacked the same facility. As Russian news Telegram channel Astra reported at the time, the previous strike had resulted in the total destruction of the station’s pump house — a critical component without which oil cannot be transported.

Previous strikes on Russian oil pumping stations temporarily disrupted Russian pipeline oil exports, but the damaged facilities later resumed operations.

Ilsky oil refinery set ablaze — again

On the same night, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces struck the Ilsky oil refinery in Seversky District, Krasnodar Krai, the General Staff confirmed. Ilsky is located around 30 kilometers from Krasnodar.

Astra cited the Krasnodar regional operational headquarters, reporting that “drone debris fell on the territory of the Ilsky refinery” — the standard Russian official wording for all successful Ukrainian attacks. The strike caused one of the refinery’s technological installations to catch fire, according to the report. Officials claimed that the fire, which allegedly covered only several square meters, was quickly extinguished and that there were no casualties. Emergency response and special services were deployed, and refinery personnel were evacuated to shelters.

Footage of the fire at the refinery grounds, published online by Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+, showed visible flames in the industrial area definitely more than “several square meters” in size.

This was not the first time Ukrainian drones targeted the Ilsky refinery. Earlier strikes took place in February and July this year, as well as in 2023 and 2024. Previous operations have triggered significant fires, including a major one in February. According to Militarnyi and Suspilne, the July attack was reportedly conducted by Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR).

Ukrainian forces also strike Russian troop sites in Kursk Oblast

In addition to the fuel infrastructure strikes, Ukrainian forces confirmed hits on Russian military personnel sites and logistics warehouses in Kursk Oblast. The General Staff reported “successful hits” on locations housing Russian troops and storing matériel.

The Ukrainian military said these attacks are part of a larger strategy “to reduce the offensive potential of the Russian occupiers and complicate the delivery of fuel and ammunition to the enemy’s military units.”

Russia claims 69 drones shot down

In response to the overnight strikes, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed 69 Ukrainian drones over various regions, including 21 over Krasnodar Krai, 13 over Voronezh Oblast, and others in Astrakhan, Belgorod, Volgograd, and Kursk oblasts, as well as Crimea.

In the early hours of 4 September 2025, Ukrainian Defense Forces reportedly struck two radar installations in southern Russia’s Rostov Oblast. Militarnyi reports that the targets were the “Navigation of the South” radar complex (RLS-1) and a site located at a former air defense base.

Ukrainian strike hits Rostov aviation radar

The RLS-1 “Navigation of the South” is part of the Aeronavigation South branch infrastructure in Rostov-on-Don. It performs key functions in air traffic management over southern Russia, including aircraft detection and tracking, route coordination, flight support, aviation radio communication, and fixed satellite links. The complex is part of Russia’s centralized air traffic control system.

Ukrainian Telegram channel Krymskyi Veter reported that a fire broke out at the site on 4 September, as shown by NASA’s FIRMS map that features detected thermal signatures at the location. 

Strike also hits former air defense base

NASA data also show that the second site was on the grounds of a former air defense unit (military unit 65312) and military town that previously hosted the 1244th anti-aircraft missile regiment, which had been equipped with S-300PS surface-to-air missile systems in the 1990s. In 1997, the unit was merged with the 584th regiment and moved to Maryino in Moscow Oblast.

Militarnyi notes that Russia likely decided to restore the site for use in the war. A radar complex similar to RLS-1, believed to perform similar tasks, is located at the site. 

August radar strike in occupied Crimea

On 12 August, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces destroyed the Skala-M radar station in Russian-occupied Crimea. The station was used for air traffic control along routes and approach zones, with a range of up to 350 kilometers. Images published by Dnipro Osint showed the station before and after the strike.