Ukraine says it hit Russia’s Ilsky refinery, Moscow accuses Kyiv of drone attack in Kherson, killing 24
The spike in drone strikes by both sides comes days after Russia accused Ukraine of launching a long-range drone attack against one of President Vladimir Putin’s official residences.
three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast. (Photo: RT)
The New Year got off to a bloody start in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Russian officials on Thursday said a Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 more as they celebrated the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
Drone strike kills 24 in Kherson
According to Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed administrator of Kherson Oblast, three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast.
Aftermath of a Ukrainian drone strike on New Year’s celebration in Kherson region
The attack on a cafe and hotel left 24 people dead, including a child
In a statement posted on Telegram, Saldo said that one of the drones carried an incendiary mixture, sparking a blaze. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the claim of a strike.
Valentina Matviyenko, the chair of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, said that the strike “strengthened” Russia’s resolve to quickly achieve its goals in its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine.
The strike “once again demonstrates the validity of our initial demands,” Matviyenko said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, on Thursday, announced that its military has struck the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region.
Ilsky Oil Refinery, Krasnodar region, 6.5 million tons/year capacity, becomes the first Russian refinery hit in 2026. Another precision drone strike lights up critical energy infrastructure deep inside Russia. pic.twitter.com/gTr5goTQha
In a statement on Telegram, the Ukrainian military also said it hit the Almetevskaya oil preparation facility in Russia’s Tatarstan region, which is located more than 965 kilometres from the nearest part of Ukraine.
Russian media report that Ilsky oil refinery and an oil depot in Lyudinovo, Russia were the first to be attacked by drones in the new year. pic.twitter.com/VFM9e6kE1j
Ukrainian authorities have also alleged that Russia launched a massive drone attack overnight, targeting power infrastructure in several regions. According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, a “significant number” of households in the Volyn and Odesa regions – in northwestern and southwestern Ukraine, respectively – were disconnected from power supplies by the strike.
Story continues below this ad
According to the governor of Volyn, more than 103,000 households in that region had lost power as a result of the attack.
‘Russia brings war into New Year’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who shared a video of the aftermath of the Russian drone strikes, accused Moscow of ‘bringing war into the New Year’.
“Russia deliberately brings war into the New Year – launching more than two hundred attack drones against Ukraine overnight. Most of them were successfully shot down, and I thank all our warriors who repelled this attack. The strikes hit the Volyn, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions. The targets were our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Russia deliberately brings war into the New Year – launching more than two hundred attack drones against Ukraine overnight. Most of them were successfully shot down, and I thank all our warriors who repelled this attack. The strikes hit the Volyn, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa,… pic.twitter.com/JfijkZ1y7E
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 1, 2026
Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Wednesday released a video of one of the drones allegedly shot down during the failed attack on Tuesday. The Ministry of Defense on Thursday said that its specialists had accessed the navigation system in one of the drones it claimed was used in the attack and used its data to confirm that Putin’s residence was the drone’s final destination.
Story continues below this ad
Ukraine has rejected the Russian allegations and Moscow’s claims of its military launching the drone attack as a “lie.”
Share
three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast. (Photo: RT) 
