Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in Odesa, 12 December 2025. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange overnight drone strikes on Thursday, targeting residential and infrastructure sites, local authorities have reported, as Kyiv reportedly hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries.
Multiple Russian regions were targeted overnight by Ukrainian drones for a second night in a row, with seven people injured when an apartment building was hit in Tver, western Russia, according to Acting Governor Vitaly Korolyov.
Ukrainian drones also targeted the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl, central Russia, according to Telegram channel ASTRA. The refinery, which is one of the five largest in the country, remains on fire.
The Russian Defence Ministry reported that air defence forces had destroyed 95 Ukrainian drones last night, the majority of which were taken down over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, Odesa was hit by Russian drone strikes targeting infrastructure and a residential building. Parts of the city were left without electricity or water, as reported by the head of the Odesa Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak.
These incidents come amid ongoing strikes on civilian and industrial hotspots. Russia has continuously targeted Ukraine’s energy and utility infrastructure, while Ukraine has launched attacks intent on buckling Russia’s industrial sites and oil refineries in a bid to disrupt Moscow’s war funding and logistics.
