Ukrainian drone attack sets Russia's Kirishi refinery ablaze

Russia's second-largest oil refinery has been set on fire following a Ukrainian drone attack that killed a local woman, according to Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko.

The Kirishi refinery in the Leningrad region came under attack in the early hours of Monday, local time, with the woman dying after being hit by falling drone debris.

The governor wrote on Telegram that the fire had been contained.

Earlier, he said that air defence forces had downed 113 Ukrainian drones, and that an apartment in Kirishi had been damaged in the same overnight attack.

The wider region is a major export outlet for grain and oil in Russia's part of the Baltic Sea.

Ukraine has now disrupted operations at nearly 30 major Russian oil refineries through precise long-range drone strikes.

Attacks on key infrastructure from both sides of the Ukrainian war have intensified in recent days.

On Monday, Russia's armed forces said they struck three power substations across Ukraine.

They also claimed to have hit a cargo ship in the Black Sea that Moscow said was providing arms to Ukraine, state news agencies reported.

Russia is seeking to undermine Ukraine's resolve as winter sets in with strikes on its power system.

Moscow has relied on ballistic missiles and new, faster jet-powered drones, taking advantage of Ukraine's shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that "every power plant in Ukraine has been damaged in one way or another by attacks" and urged Kyiv's allies to provide generators and other equipment to keep the electricity flowing.

He also pleaded with allies to tap their own air defence stockpiles to help Ukraine fend off Russia's attacks and replenish them later.

Abu Dhabi to host peace talks

The latest skirmishes come as Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators prepare for Tuesday talks on ending the full-scale war that is nearing the five-year mark, with security guarantees topping the agenda.

The two-day session in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, follows previous rounds of negotiations that failed to produce any visible progress toward ending Europe's most devastating conflict since World War II.

It is their first peace talks since February.

The negotiations follow last month's localised truce around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine that was brokered with the help of US first lady Melania Trump and allowed the evacuation of some of its residents and the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian supplies.

But even as Moscow and Kyiv touted the week-long ceasefire as a positive model, fierce fighting has continued along the 1,200-kilometre front line.  

Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on key elements of any prospective peace deal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to pull its troops back from the four regions that Moscow illegally annexed early in the war but never fully captured.

He also demands that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO, accept strict limits on its military and drop restrictions on the Russian language and the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Mr Putin wants a comprehensive peace deal on those conditions and won't agree to a general halt in hostilities, arguing that such a pause would only allow Ukrainian troops to rest and replenish their weapons stockpiles.

Mr Zelenskyy rejects Mr Putin's demands to voluntarily cede Ukrainian territory Russia has not been able to take on the battlefield and agreed to limits on the military and arrangements with Western partners, which it sees as essential security guarantees to stop Russia invading again in the future.

Ukraine argues that an immediate ceasefire is the first step toward negotiating a wider settlement and says a direct meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy is the only way territorial issues can be settled.