Russians flee in panic as Ukrainian drone wreak havoc in huge bombardment

Russians fled in panic today as a Ukrainian drone destroyed a major oil refinery in one of the biggest bombardments of Vladimir Putin’s territory for months.

A giant explosion saw flames rising into the sky at the giant Ryazan Oil Refinery, some 112 miles southeast of Moscow.

Footage released online showed the dramatic scenes in Ryazan where a power station was also hit and set ablaze by military drones.

Separately, a plant making microchips for Vladimir Putin’s deadly Iskander ballistic missiles also went up in flames in Bryansk region after another strike.

In total, some 10 Russian regions and areas of occupied Crimea were hit by Ukrainian drones overnight.

Airports in Russian cities Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Penza, Samara, Saratov and Ufa were forced to suspend flights due to drone strikes.

The Russian defence ministry reported shooting down 123 drones including 37 over Bryansk region, 20 over Ryazan region, and 17 over the Kursk and Saratov regions.

The Baza media outlet said Ukraine had “staged the most massive attack on Russian regions since the beginning of 2025”.

Drones were also aimed at Russian capital Moscow – but reportedly shot down.

Ryazan oil refinery is one of the largest in Russia and critical for fuel supplies to Moscow.

Its capacity is 18 million tons a year, and it is owned by state company Rosneft, headed by close Putin crony Igor Sechin.

There were complaints of a shortage of emergency workers to deal with the raging blaze and firefighters were still battling the inferno today.

Meanwhile, the latest strikes on the Russian mainland came as US president Donald Trump sought a meeting with Vladimir Putin to agree talks about a ceasefire in a war that has now lasted one month short of three years.

“I think Russia should want to make a deal,” Mr Trump told reporters.

“Maybe they want to make a deal.

“From what I hear, Putin would like to meet with me. We will meet as soon as we can. I would meet immediately. Every day that we don’t meet, soldiers are dying on the battlefield.”

Regarding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Trump said: “He’s lost a lot of soldiers, and so has Russia….but Russia has lost more.”