Four people were killed and two injured after Ukrainian drones attacked an industrial zone in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, regional Governor Andrei Bocharov said Friday morning.
“Unfortunately, there are casualties among employees of Volgograd’s southern industrial zone from today’s attack by the criminal Kyiv regime,” Bocharov wrote on Telegram.
He initially said at around 1:00 a.m. local time that falling drone debris caused “localized fires” in and around the industrial zone without any casualties.
The exiled news outlet Astra said it identified the facility as the largest Lukoil oil refinery in southern Russia after analyzing eyewitness photographs. The Volgograd refinery, which has an annual processing capacity of around 14.8 million metric tons of crude oil, was previously attacked on Oct. 2.
Local media reported later that drivers began lining up at gas stations across Volgograd as prices for popular grades of gasoline rose overnight by 50 kopeks per liter (2.3 U.S. cents per gallon).
The average price of gasoline in Russia has climbed around 16% since the start of the year, with the national average at 98 rubles per liter ($4.51 per gallon) as of Nov. 2. The national average for diesel is nearly 99.9 rubles per liter.
This is at least the eighth Russian oil refinery to have been struck by Ukrainian forces since Oct. 30, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. In a Telegram post on Thursday, the General Staff said Kyiv’s forces had struck seven refineries, including five of Russia’s largest facilities.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday it intercepted 1,198 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and annexed Crimea overnight.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported Friday that another night of Russian attacks had set a hospital ablaze and killed at least three people.
The deadly attacks came a day after the latest round of shuttle diplomacy in U.S.-led talks to end the war approaching its fifth year.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday before jetting to Dublin to huddle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
AFP and Reuters contributed reporting.
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