Drones hit Russian oil refineries as Moscow shores up front line

Drones have struck two oil refineries in southern Russia as Western officials said Moscow was moving to shore up defences in border areas.

People take shelter in a metro station during a Russian missile strike on Kyiv. Picture: AFP

Kyiv: Drones struck two oil refineries in southern Russia on Wednesday as Western officials said Moscow was moving to shore up defences in border areas and along the 1500km front with Ukraine ahead of a planned counteroffensive by Kyiv.

Authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region said the Ilyinsky oil refinery was largely unaffected by a suspected drone attack, but a blaze at the Afipsky refinery engulfed more than 100sq m of territory likely as a result of a drone, according to regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev, who said no one had been injured.

The frequency of drone attacks on Russian infrastructure and military targets far beyond the front line has increased. Moscow has mostly blamed Ukraine, and military analysts have described the assaults as part of what are called shaping operations, setting the stage for a wider counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces.

The government in Kyiv has denied direct involvement in any such operations.

On Tuesday, a wave of drones struck residential buildings in Moscow for the first time since the war in Ukraine began, with several downed in a neighbourhood near one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences.

Afterwards, Mr Putin praised the Russian capital’s air defences, though he added that there was room for improvement. Ukrainian officials denied involvement in the strikes but predicted more of them.

Western officials say such attacks come as Russia loses the initiative in the conflict, with Moscow increasingly reacting to Ukrainian offensives that are setting the agenda on the battlefield.

Russia has in recent weeks sought to bolster defensive lines across the front in Ukraine’s east and south as Kyiv says it is completing preparations for its offensive, which is expected to involve several brigades with soldiers trained in the West and using modern equipment supplied by Ukraine’s allies.

As Moscow struggles to consolidate control over Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city it captured earlier this month in its first significant victory since last summer, Russia has also been launching almost nightly drone-and-missile attacks against Ukrainian cities to deplete Kyiv’s air defences and weaken its capacity to defend its citizens.

But Western officials say the campaign has been unsuccessful, and Russia’s military resources are being used to shore up border areas in Belgorod, Bryansk and other regions that have been targeted by drone attacks and an incursion by Ukrainian-backed troops earlier this month.

“Since the start of May 2023, Russia has increasingly ceded the initiative in the conflict and is reacting to Ukrainian action rather than actively progressing toward its own war aims,” the U.K.’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Meanwhile, in a video address on Tuesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was pushing for extra support for its own air defences from its Western allies. He said he had spoken with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday about the need for more assistance.

Mr Zelensky cited “common decisions” that were being reached ahead of coming international gatherings, after Ukrainian officials and European diplomats said Kyiv and its allies were planning a summit of global leaders that would exclude Russia and be aimed at garnering support for Kyiv’s terms for ending the war.

US President Joe Biden and other top leaders from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation would be invited for the meeting, which Western diplomats hope can take place shortly before the alliance’s annual summit that starts July 11. That gathering, in Vilnius, Lithuania, will focus on military support for Ukraine and Kyiv’s future relationship with the organisation.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it would shut down four of the five Russian consulates in Germany, following a decision by Moscow to limit the number of German diplomats and civil servants in Russia.

Berlin said Moscow would be allowed to continue operating its embassy in the German capital and one consulate to create parity between the two countries in terms of personnel and structures.

The Wall Street Journal