Ukraine hits Russian energy targets after US-backed ceasefire ends

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative file photo — A satellite image shows smoke rising from an oil pumping station, following a Ukrainian drone attack, amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Perm, Russia, May 7, 2026. (EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS)

MOSCOW  -  Ukraine resumed drone attacks on Russia's oil refineries and ports on Wednesday, two days after a three-day ceasefire proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump expired. 

Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil infrastructure to undercut Moscow's revenues from the energy sector and dent its military might as the four-year war grinds on.

Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday that 286 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted and destroyed over Russian regions overnight.

In the southern Krasnodar region, drone fragments fell near an industrial facility, causing a fire in the village of Volna, where Taman port's oil products and other terminals are located, regional authorities said.

Debris from a separate Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at a gas processing plant, which also produces fuel, in Russia's southern Astrakhan region, the region's authorities said.

"All enemy aircraft were either shot down or neutralised by electronic warfare systems," Igor Babushkin, the local governor, wrote on Telegram. "The debris caused a fire."

Babushkin said there were no casualties or injuries and that the fire was expected to be extinguished within a few hours.

The plant is located near the Caspian Sea, some 1,675 km (1,040 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

 (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Sharon Singleton // REUTERS)