Ukraine has pounded one of Vladimir Putin‘s key oil refineries with drones just hours after Trump announced crippling sanctions on Moscow’s oil giants, leaving Russia facing blackouts and fuel shortages.
The strike set the massive Ryazan refinery ablaze overnight, sending flames above one of the country’s largest industrial plants.
Pavel Malkov, the governor of Ryazan Oblast, is reported to have said on Telegram: ‘Last night, 14 UAVs were destroyed by air defence systems over Ryazan Oblast.
‘The falling debris caused a fire on the territory of one company… Emergency services are working at the site.’
He also said that there was a ban on posting videos and pictures from the scene of the blast.
The attack occurred within hours of Washington’s announcement that it was targeting Rosneft and Lukoil with sweeping sanctions aimed at choking the Kremlin’s wartime cash flow.
Rosneft is headed by Igor Sechin, who has been a staunch ally of Putin.
The measures, unveiled on Wednesday, freeze the assets of Russia’s top two oil producers and bar US entities from conducting business with them.
Images show the huge fire that engulfed the Ryazan oil refinery after Ukrainian forces pounded it with drones. It came shortly after the US announced sweeping sanctions targeting Putin’s wartime cashflow
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions were a direct response to Putin’s refusal to end his invasion of Ukraine.
Bessent said: ‘As long as Putin refuses to end this senseless war, we are imposing sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies that finance the Kremlin’s war machine. We call on allies to join these sanctions.’
Together, the sanctions and refinery strike mark one of the most damaging blows yet to Russia’s energy lifeline.
Trump’s sanctions came hours after Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his frustration at the war and pleaded with allies to do more to stop Russia from launching further attacks.
He said: ‘It is high time the European Union adopted a strong sanctions package. We also count on strong sanctions measures from the United States and the G7, from all those who seek peace.’
The sanctions also follow the US announcement that talks with Putin had been put on hold. The two leaders had been slated to meet in Hungary later this month. However, Trump later said that he did not want to have a ‘wasted meeting’.
Expressing frustration with Putin, he said: ‘Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere.’
Ukraine has dramatically escalated its campaign against Russia’s oil industry, with several refineries hit since August.
Satellite images from many facilities have shown fumes rising above after huge Ukraine attacks.
Inside Russia, the fallout is increasingly visible – long queues have formed outside petrol stations in multiple regions, with some drivers waiting for hours or finding pumps completely dry.
Several regions have reported shortages of 92- and 95-octane petrol, while Crimea and Chelyabinsk Oblast have introduced rationing.
In Sverdlovsk, pro-Russian government news outlets reported that purchases were now limited ‘to a single buyer’. Some fuel stations have been reported to have entirely run out of fuel.
Companies, however, have denied that there is a shortage and insist the move is only to prevent stockpiling.
There have been huge queues for fuel in parts of Russia. Companies, however, have denied that there is a shortage and insist the move is only to prevent stockpiling
Power shortages are also compounding the energy crisis in Russia.
Several regions have reported rolling blackouts after Ukrainian drones struck electricity substations and transmission lines near the border.
In Belgorod and Kursk, residents have become accustomed to sudden power cuts and the wail of air-raid sirens.
Russia’s energy sector has long been the backbone of the Russian economy, funding not only the war effort but the state itself.
Putin has also attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – his forces have targeted facilities ahead of winter, with fears it could plunge millions into the dark in the cold months.
Meanwhile, the country suffered a massive explosion at a key ammunition factory, killing at least a dozen people and injuring seven.
Workers were buried under the rubble at the Plastmass plant in Kopeysk, around 1,000 miles from Ukraine.
Drones had been reported in the vicinity, but the cause of the giant explosion and a second detonation is under investigation, with sabotage and negligence also being probed.
Emergency staff worked all night pulling bodies from the rubble, with fears the toll will rise.
The plant – owned by the Kremlin’s state defence conglomerate Rostec – makes unguided aviation rockets and ammunition for artillery, as well as tank and self-propelled guns for use in the war in Ukraine.
The strikes on the oil refinery comes after Putin targeted residential buildings in Kyiv and other cities this week, killing dozens of people
One witness told of three drones in the air and a worker ‘covered in blood’ after the explosion.
In another deep blow for Putin, 50 of his soldiers surrendered to Ukraine around the village of Kucheriv Yar.
It comes after Russia launched yet another attack targeting civilians. Seven people were injured in an overnight attack that damaged a synagogue and kindergarten in Kyiv. Residential buildings were also targeted.
Meanwhile, Trump rejected Zelensky’s plea for Tomahawk missiles last week. After a summit in Washington, the US leader indicated that he wanted the war to end with diplomacy.
However, the Kremlin, this week, said its demands for territory from Ukraine had not changed. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: ‘This topic was repeatedly raised in various forms during contacts between Russia and the US.
‘The Russian side answered every time, this answer is well known: the consistency of Russia’s position doesn’t change.’
However, Zelensky has insisted he would not give up any Ukrainian territories as a condition to end the war.