Ukrainian Drone Hits Russia's third Biggest Refinery, Damage not Critical

MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone struck Russia's third largest oil refinery on Tuesday about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the front lines, hitting a unit that processes about 155,000 barrels of crude per day though an industry source said the damage was not significant.

Russian officials said its jamming devices locked onto a Ukrainian drone near Tatneft's (TATN.MM), opens new tab Taneco refinery, which has an annual production capacity of more than 17 million tons (340,000 barrels per day).

Pictures from the scene indicated the drone hit the primary refining unit, CDU-7, at the refinery, though the drone appears to have not done serious damage.

An industry source who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the damage to the unit was not critical while the personnel was returning to the plant.

A fire broke out at the refinery but was extinguished within 20 minutes, the state news agency RIA said, adding that output had not been disrupted.

Ramil Mullin, the mayor of Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan region southeast of Moscow where the refinery is located, said there had been no serious damage done.

The unit that was hit accounts for around a half of the plant's total annual production capacity. The refinery accounts for about 6.2% of Russia's refining capacity.

A military intelligence source in Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Moscow began a full-scale invasion of its neighbour two years ago, said in Kyiv that the primary Taneco refining unit had been hit, causing a fire. The source said the aim of the strike was to reduce Russia's oil revenue.

Another Ukrainian intelligence source said Ukrainian-made drones also hit a Russian plant producing long-range "Shahed" attack drones, causing "significant damage".