Ukraine says it has hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in a drone strike

Ukraine  said Saturday  it had hit one of  Russia's largest oil refineries in a drone  strike, setting the facility  on fire more than  1,100 kilometers (700 miles) from Russian  territory.Not a valid attachment ID.

The attack on the Taneco refinery in the city of Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan  - one of  Russia's largest and most modern refineries  - was the second time the facility had been  hit by Ukrainian forces  in the  past year, according to Lieutenant Andrii  Kovalenko of the  Ukrainian Center for  Combating Disinformation.
Social media images  geotagged by CNN  appeared to show massive flames and smoke  rising into the dark  sky as workers  struggled through the snow  to evacuate the  burning building.
Despite the footage, the press service of the Republic of Tatarstan denied  that there  was a fire at the plant, insisting that it  was a  simulated evacuation as  part of a safety exercise and that the images of the glowing facility  actually show "the work of the  factory torch."
A view shows the  Moscow oil refinery of Russian oil producer Gazprom  Neft on the  southeastern outskirts of  Moscow, April 28,  2022.
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According to Ukrainian official Kovalenko, the Taneco refinery has a refining capacity of  more than 16 million tons of oil per year and "plays a key role in supplying fuel to the Russian  military." "The destruction of  oil refineries and  storage facilities directly affects  Russia's ability to wage an intense  war," he  added.
Kovalenko said the refinery  was also hit in the spring of 2024, in an attack that damaged its primary processing  unit.
Last April, Ukrainian drone  strikes in Tatarstan targeted a Shahed drone assembly  plant and a primary oil refining unit at the refinery, one of the five largest facilities in Russia, sources told CNN at the  time.
Last April's attack was the  furthest into Russian territory  that Ukraine had  hit since the  start of the war.

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