Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russian territory between late Wednesday and early Thursday, wounding three people and igniting fires in two southern regions, including a major oil facility.
The attacks come just hours before a high-stakes meeting in Alaska between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — their first since 2021 — as Washington seeks a resolution to the ongoing three-and-a-half-year conflict.
In the southern city of Volgograd, around 470 kilometres (300 miles) from the front line, debris from a downed drone reportedly caused oil products to spill and catch fire at a refinery, according to regional governor Andrei Bocharov. Footage shared on Russian social media appeared to show a large blaze consuming part of the facility.
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Meanwhile, in Russia’s Belgorod region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone struck a car in the regional capital, setting it ablaze and injuring three people. Videos posted online showed the vehicle engulfed in flames with debris scattered across the street.
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Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven over Crimea, the peninsula annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv has not publicly commented on the latest strikes, but has repeatedly described such operations as legitimate retaliation for Moscow’s sustained missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
The timing of the strikes underscores the deep tensions ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, which is expected to focus heavily on the war and potential diplomatic pathways toward ending it.
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