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Russia's Tuapse oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai was forced to shut down following a Ukrainian drone attack on May 17, Reuters reported, citing sources.
Russian authorities said that a fire had broken out at the refinery earlier in the day. Sources from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) later confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that it had carried out a joint operation with the country's military intelligence against the facility.
A source told Reuters that drones had struck the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) unit at the refinery but that the crude distillation unit (CDU) was not damaged.
The source claimed that the refinery could "bypass the LPG unit" and resume operations at the CDU shortly.
The facility, owned by Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft, just restarted its operations earlier in May following a three-month shutdown after a Ukrainian drone strike in January.
Rosneft's Tuapse refinery is one of southern Russia's largest oil processing plants.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed 102 aerial and six naval drones had been intercepted and destroyed overnight in Russia and occupied Crimea on May 17.
Ukraine has escalated attacks against Russia's oil industry in recent months, successfully reducing the processing capacities of multiple facilities.
Strikes against Russian energy targets have prompted criticism from U.S. officials, who have made it clear that Washington does not support Ukraine's attacks on oil refineries, citing fears that it could threaten the global energy market.
In response, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv has the right to use its own weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Igor Kossov
