Ukrainian long-range drones set fire to the KINEF oil refinery at Kirishi in Russia's Leningrad region in an overnight attack early Monday, Leningrad Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.1,2,5
Drozdenko said the fire on the refinery grounds was extinguished. The plant is Russia's second-largest oil refinery, and the strike came hours before delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were due to meet for new U.S.-brokered talks on ending the fighting.1,2,4,5
Drozdenko said air defenses shot down 113 Ukrainian drones over the region during the attack. He said debris from a drone hit an apartment building and killed a woman. The reports differed on the location of that building, with one account identifying it as in the town of Vsevolozhsk and another as in Kirishi. Eyewitness video appeared to show large fireballs rising from the refinery and lighting the night sky, and NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System detected multiple hotspots at the facility.1,2
The accounts also differed on the distance involved, with one putting the site about 800 kilometers north of Ukraine and another putting it at more than 1,200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The Kirishi Petroleum Organic Synthesis plant, also known as the Kinef plant, can produce 20 million metric tons of oil per year and accounts for more than 6 percent of Russia's refined oil, including fuel used by the country's armed forces. It is subject to Western sanctions imposed by Ukraine's allies, including measures imposed by the United States. Ukrainian drones previously targeted the refinery on Aug. 30, and on May 5 the plant temporarily halted processing after strikes damaged three of its four crude distillation units.1,5
Ukraine's General Staff said its forces also struck the Morozov Plant. It said the plant makes explosives and solid fuel for missiles and that three production workshops were damaged. Ukraine's General Staff described the site as producing solid rocket propellant for Russia's Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Ukraine said in early October that its long-range strikes had neutralized more than half of Russia's oil refining capacity, and one account said Ukraine has now disrupted operations at nearly 30 major Russian refineries.2,5
Russia launched 317 drones of various types, including 105 jet-powered drones, at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's air force said. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces targeted electrical substations in Ukraine. The accounts differed on the number, with one saying three substations were struck and another saying four were targeted in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions. Russian forces hit a warehouse in Odesa containing food supplies for kindergartens and schools, killing three people, local officials said. Russia's armed forces also said they struck three power substations and claimed to have hit a cargo ship in the Black Sea that Moscow said was providing arms to Ukraine. At least four people were killed in the overnight exchange, with one death reported in Leningrad region and three in Odesa.2,3,5
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that the European Union had agreed to activate an emergency mechanism that speeds up funding for power grid repairs. Zelenskyy said last week that "every power plant in Ukraine has been damaged in one way or another by attacks" and urged allies to provide generators and other equipment and to draw on their own air defense stockpiles to help Ukraine and replenish them later. Ukraine is trying to prevent Russia from firing ballistic missiles, which Kyiv's forces cannot stop once in the air without more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, which are in short supply. Moscow has relied on ballistic missiles and new, faster jet-powered drones.2,5
A Russian glide bomb attack last week near the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia region killed at least 55 people at an aid distribution center. Russia has increased strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent weeks, causing blackouts and water outages and civilian deaths. Russia is seeking to undermine Ukraine's resolve as winter approaches with strikes on its power system.1,2,5
President Donald Trump said in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday that Moscow and Kyiv are "very close" to a deal, despite the "tremendous hatred" between President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy. He said Ukraine would have "a little bit different shape" under a settlement, but he did not elaborate. Trump has previously made statements about developments in the war which have not materialized.4,5
The three-way talks between envoys from the United States, Russia and Ukraine are due to start in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday for two days, with security guarantees at the top of the agenda. It is their first meeting since February. The last three-way talks in Geneva in February took place amid continuing attacks and delivered no significant progress. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Trump's team has placed "collective security," covering not just Russia and Ukraine but a wider area, at the top of the agenda.2,4,5
Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on key elements of any prospective deal. Putin wants Ukraine to pull troops back from four regions Moscow annexed early in the war but never fully captured, to abandon its bid to join NATO, to accept strict limits on its military and to drop restrictions on the Russian language and the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church. Putin wants a comprehensive peace deal on those conditions and will not agree to a general halt in hostilities, arguing such a pause would allow Ukrainian troops to rest and replenish weapons. Zelenskyy rejects voluntarily ceding territory Russia has not taken on the battlefield. Ukraine argues an immediate ceasefire is the first step toward a wider settlement and says a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is the only way territorial questions can be settled.2,5
The negotiations follow last month's localized truce around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, brokered with the help of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, that allowed evacuation of some residents and delivery of humanitarian supplies. Moscow and Kyiv described the week-long ceasefire as a positive model, but fighting continued along the 1,200-kilometer front line. Nearly five years after Russia invaded its neighbor, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, analysts and humanitarian organizations say. Russian state finances are under strain because of the war, and Ukraine's economy is being choked by the attacks, while Trump faces Democrats taking over the U.S. Congress in January, who could demand more support for Ukraine. Moscow says European officials will not be involved in Abu Dhabi, but French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday that France and other European representatives would be in the UAE. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday the meeting would focus on trilateral negotiations, with the United States mediating between Russia and Ukraine. "You are aware that the Americans have their own channels of communication with the Europeans, as do the Ukrainians, and it appears they are already establishing their own methods of coordination," Peskov said. "But, to reiterate, this is a matter of trilateral negotiations."2,4,5
