Ukraine hits major Russian oil refinery with British missiles, officials say

Ukraine has hit a major Russian oil refinery with British missiles, Ukrainian military and security officials said on Thursday.

The Storm Shadow missiles caused multiple explosions at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Rostov, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

"Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit," the General Staff said on ‍the Telegram app on Thursday.

The refinery was one of southern Russia's biggest suppliers of oil products and was supplying diesel and jet fuel to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, according to the officials.

The UK gave Ukraine permission to use its Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia last year, with the first known strikes happening in November that year.

Ukrainian-made long-range drones hit oil product tanks in Russia's Temryuk port in the Krasnodar region ​and a gas processing plant in Orenburg.

The Orenburg plant is the largest facility of its kind and is around 1,400km (870 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Russian officials in Krasnodar said two oil product tanks caught fire at the southern port of Temryuk after the drone attack.

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Flames covered about ‌2,000 square metres, authorities at the Krasnodar operational headquarters said ⁠on Telegram.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have stepped up their attacks on energy facilities in recent months.

Kyiv has increased its strikes on Russia's oil refineries and other energy infrastructure since August as it seeks to cut
Moscow's oil revenues, a ​key source of funding for its war effort.

The chart shows oil refineries struck by Ukraine in the months leading up to December.

Elsewhere in the conflict, Russian officials said there had been "slow but steady progress" in peace negotiations with the United States.

"In the negotiation process on a ‌settlement of the ‌Ukraine conflict, I mean in ​the negotiation process with the United States, ‍there is slow but steady progress," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday.

She added, however, that western European powers were trying to torpedo the progress of peace talks and the United States should counter such moves.

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy posted on Telegram to say he had spoken to the US's Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner "for nearly an hour".

"It was truly a good conversation: many details, good ideas, and we discussed them," he said. "We have some new ideas on how to bring real peace closer, and this concerns formats, meetings, and of course, timing."

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