Ukrainian drones attacked energy facilities in Russia's Astrakhan and Volgograd oblasts overnight on Feb. 3, causing fires, according to local authorities. The news comes as Ukraine ramps up long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure to stifle Moscow's gas and oil exports that fuel its war chest.

The Volgograd refinery processes nearly 6% of all oil in Russia, while the Astrakhan facility is one of the country’s major energy hubs, refining 12 billion cubic meters of gas condensate annually. Critical damage reported at Russian energy facilities According to Ukrainian security sources,

"This refinery is one of the 10 largest oil refineries in Russia in terms of design capacity and is involved in supplying the Russian occupatying army," the General Staff said in a statement.

Drones have attacked fuel and energy facilities in Russia’s Astrakhan and Volgograd oblasts on the night of 2-3 February. Source: Russian Telegram channels; Reuters; Astrakhan Oblast Governor Igor Babushkin Details: Babushkin claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to attack facilities in the oblast with drones,

The drones, operated by the SBU and the Special Operations Forces, targeted the flare farm, two primary processing units, and two technological units at the Volgograd oil refinery, an SBU source said.