Ukrainian drones strike Perm oil refinery and chemical plant, disabling key distillation unit
Ukrainian drones attacked a chemical plant and a major oil refinery in the Russian city of Perm, some 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, on Thursday. The strikes disabled a key distillation unit at the refinery, one of Russia's largest. The attack brings the war directly to a city deep in Russia's industrial hinterland that had previously felt distant from the conflict.
Ukrainian one-way attack drones laden with explosives struck a chemical plant on the outskirts of Perm and the grounds of the local oil refinery on Thursday, disabling a key distillation unit at one of Russia's largest refineries, according to residents and local reports.
Perm, an industrial city of more than one million people, lies approximately 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, deep in Russia's industrial hinterland. The attack brought the war directly to a city that had previously felt distant from the conflict.
"I knew about drone attacks and explosions only from the news," said Pavel, a Perm resident. "In Perm, the war seemed far away."
The refinery hit is one of the largest in Russia. The disabling of the distillation unit is likely to affect fuel processing capacity at the facility.
The strikes follow a pattern of Ukrainian long-range drone operations targeting Russian energy infrastructure. On April 30, Ukrainian drones struck a Lukoil refinery and an explosives plant in Russia for a second consecutive day, and on April 29, drones hit a Transneft pipeline hub near Perm and helicopters in Voronezh Oblast.