June 20 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen Region in western Siberia, more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Ukraine.
He also said Ukraine had developed new long-range drones capable of operating over more than 3,000 km.
Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy offered thanks to the Ukrainian military’s special operations which “have reached Tyumen Region in Russia, including an oil refining facility. More than 2,000 km from our state border. This is effective work.”
Ukraine’s military has been engaged for months in a campaign of medium and long-range strikes on Russian targets, focusing mainly on the oil industry, to hinder Moscow’s capability in funding the war.
The governor of Tyumen Region, Alexander Moor, earlier said that Russian air defences repelled a drone attack on the oil refinery. He said that according to preliminary reports, there was no damage and staff were evacuated.
The Tyumen refinery, one of the country’s most modern and complex, has a nominal capacity of around 8 million metric tons per year. It processes roughly 6 million tons of crude annually, producing about 0.5 million tons of gasoline and 2.5 million tons of diesel, according to industry estimates.
Zelenskiy said the new, modernised long-range drones “have also been successfully deployed”.
“They can now reach targets at a distance of 3,000 km,” he said. These are entirely justified responses to Russian strikes against our state. Ukraine’s plan of long-range operations is being implemented.”
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Editing by Franklin Paul)