ISTANBUL/MOSCOW

Ukraine claimed on Friday that its forces carried out a pre-dawn drone attack on the Lukoil-Volgograd oil refinery in Russia's Volgograd region, which caught fire, disrupting a key fuel site used by Russia’s military.

According to a Ukrainian General Staff statement, explosions and fires were observed at the refinery while damage to the site is still being assessed.

However, Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov rejected the Ukrainian claim of a direct hit on the refinery, saying in a statement posted on his Telegram channel that some parts caught fire after the drone was destroyed in the air and that the falling debris caused the fire, which was quickly extinguished.

One refinery employee was injured in the incident and was taken to the hospital, he said.

Earlier, Russian media reported that residents of Volgograd heard explosions and saw drone activity on the city's southern outskirts.

According to some media reports, other industrial sites, such as a power plant and an oil depot, were also targeted, though these claims have yet to be confirmed officially.

Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 49 Ukrainian drones across seven regions. These included 25 drones over Rostov, eight over Volgograd, six over Kursk, four over Yaroslavl, and two each over Krasnodar, Belgorod, and Voronezh.

In Voronezh, a drone reportedly crashed into a moving vehicle, injuring the driver, according to Governor Alexander Gusev. Another drone strike shattered windows at an industrial facility.

In Rostov, falling drone debris disrupted power lines, while no casualties or damage were reported in Yaroslavl. Officials in Krasnodar, Kursk, and Belgorod have not yet commented on the attacks.

Meanwhile, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov arrived in Ukraine’s combat zone on Friday, the Defense Ministry said.

Gerasimov received a briefing from the commander of the Vostok group, which operates in the “special military operation” zone, and acknowledged the group’s recent offensive near the settlements of Velyka Novosilka and Vremivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

During his visit, Gerasimov awarded state honors to Vostok group soldiers.

His visit came a day after Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov also toured the combat zone.