Ryazan refinery attacked again: fire burns through the night

Overnight into Friday, October 16, the Ryazan oil refinery, one of the largest in Russia, came under attack by Ukrainian drones again. According to the Telegram channel Exilenova+, the fire raged all night and had not been brought under control by morning.

Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov wrote on Telegram that air defenses shot down five drones over the region overnight, and said no casualties or damage had been reported. This is already the second strike on the plant in two days: a fire also broke out there after a drone attack on Thursday night, and Malkov, according to TASS, spoke of a massive raid on the region.

One of Russia’s largest refineries

According to its operator, Rosneft, the plant processes up to 18.8 million tonnes of oil a year. Ukraine returned to targeting Russian refineries after a three-day pause caused by the energy truce that US President Donald Trump announced over the weekend, saying both sides had agreed to it. But within hours, Moscow attacked critical energy infrastructure in Moscow and Kharkiv.

In an interview with a British business publication, Volodymyr Zelensky said he had had enough: “The block on attacks on refineries is no longer in force. We are done.” Trump called the renewed strikes “shameful” and said he is not a fan of Zelensky. At the same time, he did not criticize Russia for its strikes during the truce he announced, nor did he comment on Ukraine halting attacks on refineries for three days.

Gasoline, elections and intelligence

Important Congressional elections await Trump in November, and fuel prices are a sore subject for him. For several weeks he has blamed Ukraine for high diesel prices because of the refinery strikes, although prices actually rose because of the American war against Iran, which is deeply unpopular with US voters.

Washington has also threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Kyiv. Even though Ukraine halted the strikes, the US suspended it anyway, and as a result Kyiv cannot defend itself effectively. The White House also restricted Starshield, the military version of Starlink, but it is already working again.

Source: novinky.cz