Ukraine missiles and drones hit Russian oil, gas facilities

Ukraine launched British Storm Shadow missiles and its domestically produced long-range drones to hit several Russian oil and gas facilities, Ukrainian military and security officials said on Thursday.

Ukraine has previously used the British-made missiles to attack Russian ⁠industrial targets that it says help Moscow's war.

The Ukrainian General Staff said that the air force used Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov region.

"Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit," the General Staff said on the Telegram app on Thursday.

It said the refinery was one of the biggest oil product suppliers in southern Russia and was supplying diesel and jet fuel to the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

A firefighter works at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Thursday. Reuters

Ukraine's SBU security service said that the locally made long-range drones hit oil product tanks in the Russian port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg in southwestern Russia.

The Orenburg gas processing plant, the largest facility of its kind in the world, is located about 1,400 from the Ukrainian border.

In the Krasnodar region, Russian regional authorities said that two oil product tanks caught fire at the southern port of Temryuk after the drone attack.

Flames covered an area of about 2,000 square metres, authorities at the Krasnodar operational headquarters said on the Telegram app.

As Russia's war in Ukraine approaches its four-year mark and diplomatic efforts to end it have so far failed to produce any tangible results, both Kyiv and Moscow have stepped up their drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.

Kyiv has increased its strikes on Russia's oil refineries and other energy infrastructure since August as it seeks to cut Moscow's oil revenues, a key source of funding for its war effort.

The Ukrainian General Staff also said that Ukrainian troops hit a military airfield in the Russian city of Maikop in the republic of Adygea in the North Caucasus region.

A woman and a child holding a Christmas star stand next to a destroyed Russian tank displayed at the Mykhailivska Square during a Christmas procession in Kyiv. AFP

Separately, Moscow has made an offer to Paris regarding jailed French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who is facing espionage charges that could see him sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

The surprise public overture prompted hopes from Vinatier's family that he could be freed in a matter of days, and comes as both Russia and France have expressed interest in possible talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron.

Vinatier, who works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and was jailed in June 2024, is serving a three-year sentence for failing to register as a "foreign agent." But he faces fresh allegations of spying.

"There were appropriate contacts between our side and the French. Indeed, a proposal was made to the French regarding Vinatier," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP. Peskov did not provide details. "The ball is now in France's court," he added.

Vinatier's family have rejected the accusations against him, saying he is a victim of tensions between Moscow and Paris over the war in Ukraine.

Western countries have long accused Russia of arresting their citizens on baseless charges.

They accuse Moscow of seeking to use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of alleged Russian spies and cyber criminals jailed in Europe and the United States.

Agencies