MOSCOW—Ukraine launched a second day of drone strikes on Russian oil refineries on Wednesday, setting a fire at Rosneft's largest refinery in what President Vladimir Putin described as an effort to disrupt his country's presidential election this week.
During their more than two-year conflict, Russia and Ukraine have both utilized drones to hit important infrastructure, military sites, and troop concentrations, with Kyiv increasing strikes on Russian refineries and energy facilities in recent months.
A day after causing damage to Lukoil's NORSI plant in Nizhny Novgorod, Ukrainian drone assaults targeted refineries in Rostov and Ryazan, according to Russian officials.
A drone strike in Ryazan, 180 kilometers (110 miles) from Moscow, set fire to Rosneft's refinery, Russia's seventh biggest, and there were first reports of casualties, according to governor Pavel Malkov. In a subsequent post, he stated that the fire had been put out.
There were no injuries in Rostov, but the Novoshakhtinsk refinery had to cease operations while damage was examined, according to regional governor Vasily Golubev.
In statements released on Wednesday, Mr. Putin accused Ukraine of attempting to meddle in the March 15-17 presidential election through its assaults.
“The main goal, I have no doubt about it, is to—if not to disrupt the presidential elections in Russia—then at least somehow interfere with the normal process of expressing the will of citizens,” Mr. Putin told Russia’s RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television in a wide-ranging interview.
Russian media said that over 60 drones were destroyed over Russian sovereign land in just a few hours on Wednesday.
According to Russia's RIA official news agency, four Ukrainian drones struck the Ryazan factory in the early hours, causing a 175-square-metre fire.
Unverified video footage released on social media showed a plume of black smoke rising above fires at the factory.
A drone was shot down by air defenses as it approached Russia's second biggest refinery, Kirishi, in the north, according to Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad area. According to him, the refinery's operations were unaffected.
