Ukraine is striking Russian infrastructure over the border with its vast fleet of drones.

08:52, Sun, Aug 2, 2026 Updated: 08:57, Sun, Aug 2, 2026

Smoke over Russia from burning oil refinery

Smoke after Ukrainian strike on Saratov oil refinery (Image: X)

Russia is burning after huge Ukrainian attacks. Images show the aftermath of a strike overnight on what observers say is the Saratov oil refinery and a hub in Samara belonging to Russia's largest online retailer. The attack on the refinery is believed to have been at least the fifteenth on the facility since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin said “civilian infrastructure” had been damaged in Saratov and the nearby city of Engels, but did not confirm details.

The refinery has an annual processing capacity of 4.8million tonnes. The Wildberries 178,600 square meter facility acts as a distribution centre for the Volga region and central European Russia. The firm has confirmed that the hub had been hit, adding that there were no casualties, The Kyiv Post reports. It comes after Ukraine conducted a drone strike targeting defence industrial enterprises and military infrastructure in Rostov Oblast on the night of July 31 to August 1.

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A drone attack has sparked a major fire at Wildberries' 178,600-square-meter logistics center in Novosemeykino, Russia's Samara region. pic.twitter.com/nAklY6gjB1

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 2, 2026

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote that Russian milbloggers and opposition outlets reported yesterday that Ukrainian forces conducted a drone strike against Taganrog and Petrushino in Rostov Oblast, damaging the 325th Air Repair Plant, the base of the 708th Military Transport Aviation Regiment, the Taganrog Ship Repair Plant and the Rodionovskaya oil pumping station.

Experts added that Russia conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the same night.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 72 Shahed-type drones and decoy drones from the directions of Kursk City; Millerovo, Rostov Oblast; and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai.

Officials added that Ukrainian forces downed or suppressed 44 drones and that 28 Russian drones struck nine locations, and that Russian forces primarily targeted Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv oblasts.

Russian strikes killed three people, injured 12, and damaged civilian infrastructure in Kyiv City and Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts, it was reported.