Ukrainian drones kill two in Russia as Moscow again targets Black Sea port

Firefighters put out a fire at warehouse stores after a Russian air attack in Odesa, Ukraine (Michael Shtekel/AP)

Civilians were killed and injured overnight as Russia and Ukraine continued to attack each other with waves of drones.

Two people died when Ukrainian drones struck Nizhnekamsk, a city in Tatarstan, according to local officials, while Ukrainian authorities reported Russian drone attacks on the Black Sea port of Odesa and a fire near a border crossing with Poland.

Russia has ramped up its air campaign in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce Ukraine’s defences and capitalise on Kyiv’s dwindling stock of missile interceptors.

Moscow’s attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter in what officials say is meant to demoralise civilians.

The Ukrainian attack on Nizhnekamsk appeared to target a key cluster of oil refineries and petrochemical, rubber and polymer plants, including some of Russia’s largest facilities of their kind.

Mayor Radmir Belyaev said a fire had broken out “at one of the city’s enterprises”, without giving detail.

Ukraine’s recent long-range strikes have targeted Russia’s oil and gas industry, which Kyiv says both funds and directly fuels its war on Ukraine.

The Ukrainian drone campaign has caused fuel rationing across Russia, despite the country being a key oil and gas exporter. Other Ukrainian strikes targeted major Russian online retailers, bringing the war ever closer to the public.

Ukraine also claimed on Sunday to have hit a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in Russia’s Krasnodar region, across from Crimea. The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine agency said its drones struck a key oil processing unit and the refinery’s tank farm overnight, sparking a massive blaze visible from dozens of miles away.

Krasnodar authorities said the strike on “an enterprise” in Slavyansk-on-Kuban injured three people, damaged an oil pipeline and started a blaze. They did not directly respond to the Ukrainian claims.

Russian forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones during the night, Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday, including over Tatarstan, other Russian regions, and Russian-occupied Crimea.

Meanwhile, at least nine people were injured in a “massive” Russian nighttime attack on Odesa, according to local officials.

The city is home to Ukraine’s main port hub on the Black Sea and has for months faced sustained drone and missile strikes, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of trying to choke off its exports.

A Russian drone attack on Saturday struck a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring 26 others, Ukrainian officials said. The building’s upper floors were completely destroyed.