Ukrainian drones reportedly target Russia's largest oil refinery, strike Baltic Sea port, missile boat

Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Ukrainian drones targeted Russia's largest oil refinery in the Siberian city of Omsk, hours after a separate attack struck the the Ust-Luga Baltic Sea port and a missile boat in Russia's western Leningrad Oblast, Russian officials and Ukrainian monitoring channels reported on Nov. 11.

Residents of Omsk reported explosions and a suspected strike on the oil refinery, with the drone attack lasting more than two hours, according to The Moscow Times and Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova Plus. Omsk Oblast Governor Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed a Ukrainian drone attack on the region.

Air raid sirens sounded across Omsk, while authorities restricted mobile communications and internet access, according to the governor's spokesperson, Mina Akhverdiyeva. The city's airport also temporarily suspended arrivals and departures.

The Omsk refinery, owned by Kremlin-controlled Gazprom Neft, is Russia's largest oil refinery, with a processing capacity of 22 million metric tons of crude oil annually. Located approximately 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) from Ukraine's border, the facility also supplies fuel to the Russian military.

Earlier on Nov. 11, Ukrainian drones struck the Ust-Luga port in Leningrad Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed. The strikes damaged five oil tanks with a total volume of 150,000 cubic meters, as well as a hydrocracking unit, an air cooling unit, and a pumping station, the General Staff said.

"Each damaged tank, installation or pier reduces oil revenues to the budget of the aggressor country," the General Staff added.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said that in the attack on Ust-Luga, Ukrainian forces also struck the Naro-Fominsk, a Buyan-M class missile boat carrying Onyx and Kalibr missiles. The extent of damage to some of Russia's helicopters was also being assessed, the service said.

Leningrad Oblast Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko also confirmed a Ukrainian drone attack, claiming that 150 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight and several others struck the area, sparking a fire and injuring three workers. The governor added that none of the port employees sustained serious injuries.

Explosions also sounded in other Russian regions as drones moved across the country.

A residential building was damaged in Russia's Smolensk Oblast amid a Ukrainian drone attack, and air defenses were engaged in the city of Tver, Exilenova Plus reported.

In the Adygea Republic, residents heard explosions and reported a fire on the roof of a residential building after electronic warfare systems were allegedly enabled, according to the monitoring channel.

The Ust-Luga port has been sanctioned by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland for its role in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Ust-Luga is one of Russia's ports "used to transport Russian crude oil by using the shadow fleet and other irregular and high-risk shipping practices," according to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood.

Russia's shadow fleet aims to circumvent pre-existing sanctions, often using vessels with false flags or foreign registration to export oil.

The reported attack on Ust-Luga does not mark the first time Ukrainian forces targeted infrastructure at the port.

Early on Sept. 1, Ukrainian drones struck the Novatek-Ust-Luga complex, damaging key components of an oil-processing unit and other technological equipment, causing a large fire at the facility, Ukraine's military intelligence agency confirmed.