Ukraine attacked Russian oil refineries again overnight into Thursday, 15 October. According to the governor of the Ryazan region, Pavel Malkov, a fire broke out on the grounds of the refinery in Ryazan, and a warehouse and vehicles were also hit at another industrial site. No people were harmed, it was said. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, as reported by the news outlet Al Jazeera, the fire broke out after debris from a drone fell onto the refinery grounds.
A senior Ukrainian official who wished to remain anonymous confirmed the hit on the refinery to the news agency AP. In the city of Ryazan, around 180 kilometres south-east of Moscow, drone attacks also occurred in parts of the Oktjabrski and Sowetski districts, according to the authorities, which is why classes at schools and kindergartens were cancelled. The refinery is located in the Oktjabrski district.
A target of strategic importance
The refinery in Ryazan is Russia’s third-largest. According to the news outlet Kyiv Post, it processes 17.1 million tonnes of crude oil annually and produces more than 2 million tonnes of petrol and over 3 million tonnes of diesel per year. It is operated by the state energy company Rosneft. The facility was last attacked on 6 September and was taken out of operation at that time.
According to Ukrainian monitoring channels, a military airfield in Borisoglebsk in the Voronezh region was also attacked the same night. According to reports circulated there, Neptune missiles are said to have damaged six Su-34 fighter-bombers. These details have not been independently confirmed. The governor of the Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev, confirmed an attack on the region without mentioning the military airfield. Air defence destroyed 33 drones and “several jet-powered aerial targets”, falling debris damaged outbuildings of several private houses and a vehicle, and no people were injured.
The Russian Ministry of Defence stated that air defence intercepted 166 drones over 14 regions during the night, including the Moscow, Ryazan, Voronezh and Rostov regions.
Zelensky: “The block is out”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously announced in an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times that attacks on Russian refineries would resume. According to him, Ukraine had suspended the attacks for three days at Washington’s request. “The block is out. We are done,” Zelensky told the FT in London. The pause was ended because Moscow continues to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
US President Donald Trump had unilaterally announced an “energy ceasefire” on Sunday, which was not publicly confirmed. Ukraine stated that it was adhering to it. Moscow, however, continued its attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. The US had also urged Ukraine to refrain from attacks on Russian refineries, arguing that a suspension of attacks and an agreement to purchase 1.8 million tonnes of diesel from Russia could lower the sharply risen fuel prices.
In the interview, Zelensky also complained that Ukraine had not received the usual Western intelligence data on Russian ballistic attacks in recent days and that the use of Starlink terminals had been restricted. In an interview with the British journalist Piers Morgan on Wednesday evening, Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump’s agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Really, yes, between us,” he replied when asked whether he felt cheated by the US President. The US had “switched off Starlink, really crazy steps between us”. At the same time, he said: “We are losing a strong partner.” According to Trump, he has not stopped the sharing of intelligence data with Ukraine.
Attacks on Ukraine continue
During the night, Russia also continued its attacks on Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian civil protection service, three people were killed and six injured in the central Ukrainian region of Kirovohrad. The drone attack lasted more than ten hours. Zelensky wrote on X that between midnight and Thursday morning Russia had launched more than 850 drones at Ukraine, and the attacks had hit 15 regions. The Ukrainian Air Force stated that it had intercepted 536 Russian drones, and impacts were recorded in 31 locations.
Zelensky is travelling to Brussels on Thursday to speak with the heads of state and government of the European Union. He is pressing for tougher sanctions against Moscow and faster support. The EU has pledged 50 billion dollars in support for the coming year; according to sources in Kyiv, Ukraine plans defence spending of 175 billion dollars. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten called on the EU to do more to help Ukraine achieve victory. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists that Europe had “a different approach” in this war: “We must put pressure on the aggressor to end the war, not on the victim to capitulate.” It was “not the right way to put pressure on Ukraine”.
In Bulgaria, Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed in the parliamentary question time in Sofia a fire at a facility of the satellite internet service Starlink near the capital. Previously, the pro-Western opposition alliance Democratic Bulgaria had publicised the incident. Radev did not want to give further details due to ongoing investigations. According to the alliance, eleven of 17 antennas at a secret facility near Sofia are said to have been deliberately set on fire on 9 September. These antennas served as the main connection to SpaceX and would be used in the Ukraine war. There had previously been an attack on a Starlink ground station in Poland.
Editor’s note: The details on the damaged Su-34 fighter-bombers come from Ukrainian monitoring channels and have not been independently verified. The number of intercepted drones over Russia comes from the Russian Ministry of Defence, and the Ukrainian details on the number of people killed and injured come from the Ukrainian civil protection service.
