Fire at Russia's Ilsky oil refinery put out after Ukrainian drone attack

MOSCOW, Aug 8 - A fire at the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region has been extinguished, local authorities said on Saturday, adding that it had been caused by debris from a Ukrainian drone.

Ukraine's general staff said Ukrainian military hit both the Ilsky and Syzran oil refineries overnight, causing fires at both. The Syzran refinery is in the Samara region further north.

The Samara region's governor, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said drones targeted an industrial facility there, without identifying the enterprise.

The attacks are part of Ukrainian strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure in what Kyiv says is an effort to deprive Russia of resources to fund its military.

The Ilsky refinery's design capacity is over 6 million metric tons of oil per year, while the Syzran refinery has processing capacity of 8.5 million tons annually.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences destroyed 397 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions overnight.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports from either side of the conflict. REUTERS