Ukrainian drones struck Nizhny Novgorod and the town of Kstovo overnight on July 2, killing one person and injuring four others, according to Gleb Nikitin, governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. One of the injured was hospitalized.
Air defense systems shot down 30 drones overnight, Nikitin wrote on Telegram. Falling debris caused “non-critical damage” to one industrial facility and several residential buildings. One damaged house is located at 17 Kapitan Rachkov Avenue, according to the outlet ASTRA.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed it had carried out a drone strike on the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo. Preliminary data indicate the attack hit the AVT-6 primary oil refining unit. A fire broke out at the refinery after the strike.
The Kstovo plant is one of Russia's largest, with a design capacity of about 17 million tons of oil per year, according to The Insider. It produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, and lubricants. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that these products are used, among other things, to supply the Russian armed forces.
The Kstovo refinery was previously attacked on June 24. At that time, according to Reuters, it halted oil processing due to damage to the AVT-5 primary refining unit, which accounts for 25% of the plant's capacity. However, the refinery planned to increase the load on its remaining capacity, the agency reported.