Ukrainian forces attacked an oil refinery in Russia's Yaroslavl region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, the latest in a series of strikes by Kyiv on Russian oil facilities. Authorities in Ukraine's Russian-controlled Luhansk region on Friday said a Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory killed at least six people and wounded dozens.
Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl, around 700km (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, the latest in a series of strikes by Kyiv on oil facilities in Russia.
"In particular, overnight, the Defence Forces of Ukraine operated against targets associated with the Yaroslavl oil refinery – about 700 kilometres from our territory," he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine has intensified its attacks in Russia, aiming to disrupt Russia's oil industry and slash revenue that helps Moscow fund the war in Ukraine. Global energy prices have risen during the Iran conflict and sanctions on Moscow's oil sales have been eased.
Kyiv has also increasingly adopted the tactic of hitting the same facilities several times.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said on X that Ukraine hit 11 Russian oil facilities this month as of May 21, including one of Russia's largest refineries Kirishi.
Virtually all major oil refineries in central Russia have been forced to halt or scale back fuel output following Ukrainian drone attacks in recent days, official data showed and sources told Reuters this week.
"We are bringing the war back home – to Russia – and that's only fair," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian drone attack in Luhansk
In Ukraine's Russian-controlled Luhansk region, Ukrainian drones struck a college early Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian forces deliberately struck a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region overnight.
Putin said at least six people were killed, 39 injured and 15 reported missing, as emergency teams continued rescue efforts at the scene.
He characterised the incident as a terrorist attack, accusing Ukraine of intentionally targeting civilians.
Luhansk is in east Ukraine, but is almost entirely occupied by Russia, which claims the region as its own.
Images released by the region's Russian-installed governor showed what appeared to be a college in the town of Starobilsk, its windows blown out with flames visible in one of them.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
"Enemy drones attacked the academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk Professional College," the Moscow-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said earlier in a post on Russia's MAX messenger, using the Russian name for the town.
"At the time of the strike, 86 children aged 14 to 18 were there. Thirty-five suffered injuries of varying severity," he added.
Rescuers have recovered at least one body from the rubble and are searching for others, Russian state media reported, citing the country's emergencies ministry.
Russia's Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, accused the Ukrainian military of firing four drones at the building.
"As a result of the attack, the five-storey building collapsed to the second floor," it said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack as a "heinous crime" in comments to reporters.He called for those responsible to be punished.
"This is a monstrous crime. An attack on an educational institution where children and young people are present," he told reporters.
Moscow said the UN Security Council would hold an emergency session in New York later on Friday to discuss the incident.
Starobilsk lies about 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the front line in east Ukraine.
Russian forces captured the town in 2022, shortly after launching their full-scale offensive.
Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, regularly fires drones at Russian-controlled areas in retaliation for mass Russian strikes on its own people.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has recorded more than 60,000 civilian casualties since 2022, almost 90 percent of which were in areas controlled by Ukraine.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
