Ukrainian Drone Attacks Strike Russian Oil Refinery, Sparking Fire

A series of Ukrainian drone attacks struck Russian territory, with several drones hitting an oil refinery and sparking a fire. Russian officials said defence forces had destroyed 113 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The drone strikes occurred as Kyiv and Moscow had just concluded two days of talks, mediated by the United States, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday (17 February) local time, in an effort to find a resolution to the war that has raged for four years in Ukraine.

Both sides described the talks as “difficult” and no breakthrough was announced.

The Russian Ministry of Defence, in a statement reported by AFP on Thursday (19 February 2026), said that Moscow’s defence forces had “intercepted and destroyed 113 Ukrainian drones” overnight, from Wednesday (18 February) into the early hours of Thursday (19 February).

Pskov Oblast Governor Mikhail Vedernikov separately stated that one of Kyiv’s drone strikes targeted an oil refinery in the Velikiye Luki area, located approximately 500 kilometres west of Moscow.

Vedernikov said the drone attack caused “a fire at an oil storage tank”.

According to initial reports, Vedernikov said, the drone strikes did not cause any injuries to civilians or refinery staff.

Ukraine has not issued a direct statement regarding the drone attacks. However, Kyiv is known to have launched a series of retaliatory strikes against oil refineries, port infrastructure, and energy facilities in Russian territory.

Since the military invasion was launched in February 2022, Ukraine has been subjected to near-daily Russian bombardment.