Ukrainian drones struck a military airfield in the city of Yeysk and a major oil refinery in the Leningrad region early Sunday, Aug. 30, sparking fires at both strategic sites.
In Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, drones targeted the Yeysk military airfield. According to independent monitoring channels and NASA FIRMS satellite data, active fires broke out near the airfield’s taxiways and storage facilities.
Local residents also reported hearing sounds of secondary detonations following the initial strikes. Local Russian authorities have not yet issued an official comment on the airfield attack.
Simultaneously, a massive drone swarm targeted the Leningrad region, striking the Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) oil refinery in the city of Kirishi.
Leningrad Regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko stated that air defenses intercepted 42 drones but confirmed that a fire broke out in the Kirishi industrial zone, prompting an emergency response.
The KINEF facility, fully integrated into the Surgutneftegas company structure, is one of Russia’s largest refineries and the only one located in the country’s northwest.
The plant processes approximately 20 million tons of crude oil annually – roughly 400,000 barrels per day – accounting for over 6% of Russia’s total refining capacity. The facility is a critical supplier of fuel for the Russian armed forces.
Subsequently, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the oil refinery in Kirishi, Leningrad region, Russia, had been struck, resulting in a fire on the plant’s premises, as well as a facility for the storage, preparation, and launch of attack UAVs in Millerovo, Rostov region, and the “Yeysk” airfield in Yeysk, Krasnodar Krai.
Recent strikes on Russian logistics and refineries
The Sunday morning attacks follow a sustained wave of Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian commercial, logistical, and energy infrastructure.
Early Saturday, Aug. 29, drones struck logistics centers belonging to the e-commerce giant Ozon and the electronics retailer DNS in the Rostov region. Drone fragments caused a fire in a forest strip in the Aksay district. The BBC reported that the strike on the Ozon hub prompted a pre-dawn evacuation of workers and caused a minor fire.
The strikes on commercial logistics networks coincide with the implementation of a regional state of emergency in the Rostov region.
According to a decree signed by Slyusar on Aug. 28, the emergency status was enacted due to severe disruptions to shipping in the Azov-Black Sea basin caused by Ukrainian Armed Forces attacks, which have resulted in a massive accumulation of agricultural products and threatened major economic losses.
Furthermore, the strike on the Kirishi facility continues a systematic campaign against Russia’s oil refining capacity.
Recent targets include the Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (Slavneft-YANOS) refinery in Yaroslavl on Aug. 28, Lukoil’s Nizhny Novgorod refinery in Kstovo on Aug. 26, and the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the Rostov region, which suspended operations following an attack on Aug. 25.