Ukrainian Drone Attacks Oil Refinery in russian City of St. Petersburg, russian S-400 System Misses Intercept
On the night of January 31, a drone targeted the infrastructure of the Nevsky Mazut plant in St. Petersburg, russia.
According to russian media reports, the drone was reportedly shot down by air defense systems over the village of Kolpino around 4:20 a.m. However, it continued its trajectory and eventually crashed on the plant’s territory.
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As reported, residents heard both a “rumble” and an “explosion” at around 05:00. The russians attempted to down the Ukrainian UAV using the S-400 air defense system. However, the interception proved ineffective, and the drone ultimately crashed on the grounds of the Nevsky Oil Refinery.
In the photos published by russian Telegram channels, significant infrastructure damage and vehicle impairments are evident.
Petersburg media outlet Fontanka disclosed that between 03:53 and 05:11, Pulkovo Airport, the primary international airport in the city, enacted the Kover (Carpet) protocol—an operational procedure designed to safeguard the airfield when potentially hazardous objects are identified in the airspace. Allegedly, the cause of this interruption was a Ukrainian drone.
According to Ukrainska Pravda’s source, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence is orchestrating this special operation. The source indicates that the Ukrainian drone achieved its objective successfully, and the russians tried to intercept it using the S-400 system but failed.
The source assures that the planned operation will persist.
Previously, on January 29, a drone attacked the russian Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl. Currently, Slavneft-YANOS is one of russia’s largest refineries producing refined products.
Prior to this incident, on January 25, drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine struck a refinery in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, causing a significant fire.
According to War Ukraine-Russia News Hub, on January 21, a large explosion and fire occurred in the city of Tula, where the Shcheglovsky Val plant is located. This plant manufactures the Pantsir-S air defense system, among other things.
We also reported that on January 21, SSU drones successfully targeted the terminal of the Novatek in the Ust-Luga portof Leningrad Oblast, which processes fuel supplied to the russian military.
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