Russia has been hammered by punishing new overnight missile and drone strikes as the Ukraine war continues to rage.

07:51, Sat, Mar 28, 2026 Updated: 08:05, Sat, Mar 28, 2026

Yaroslavl fire

A swarm of drones attacked and ignited Novo-Yaroslavsky Refinery in Yaroslavl (Image: EAST2WEST)

Vladimir Putin is smarting from one of his worst weeks of the four-year war after Ukraine staged punishing new overnight missile and drone strikes on Russia. Giant explosives plant JSC Promsintez in Chapayevsk, Samara region, was in flames after a reported strike by a Kyiv-made long-range Flamingo cruise missile.

The factory, 550 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory, is crucial to the Russian war effort. Separately, a swarm of drones attacked and ignited the Novo-Yaroslavsky Refinery in Yaroslavl. A downed unmanned plane killed a child and wounded his parents.

Refinery attack

Ukraine attacked Russian oil refineries. (Image: East2west News)

In Cherepovets, another plant AT Apatit - a key Russian producer of ammonium nitrate, used in military explosives - was also hit.

The latest blows come amid evidence that earlier mega-strikes by Ukraine on key Russian ports are crippling Putin’s ability to bolster his war coffers from the rising world oil prices due to the Iran conflict.

Moscow was forced to ban gasoline exports "with the aim of stabilising prices and ensuring priority supply to the domestic market".

Ukraine also launched precision strikes on oil-exporting ports Ust-Luga and Primorsk, both seen in flames this week after Putin’s air defences failed to block the drones, and the second-largest oil refinery, Kirishi.

There were warnings today in Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, over air pollution from the strikes. The Kremlin also declared the possibility of "force majeure", with satellite images showing the carnage.

"This is the most serious threat to the export of Russian oil and petroleum products since the beginning of the war," said oil and gas sector analyst Boris Aronstein. Up to 50% of Putin’s oil exports have been hit, he added.

Ukraine is deliberately using its improved long-range strike capacity to maintain pressure on Russia after international oil sanctions on Moscow were eased due to global supply disruptions caused by the Iran war.

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Flamingo missiles are domestically produced and seen as a major Ukrainian innovation during the war.

Russia struck back overnight with a savage attack on civilians in Black Sea port of Odesa. At least one person died and over a dozen were injured, including a nine-year-old child, in a horrific explosion at a tower block in the city.