At least one person killed as Russia and Ukraine trade strikes overnight 

Overnight strikes between Russia and Ukraine have killed at least one person and damaged a Russian oil refinery.

The ⁠⁠Kirishi refinery in the ⁠⁠Leningrad region was set on fire following a Ukrainian ‌‌drone attack, Leningrad Regional Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on Monday in a post on Telegram.

One woman was killed by falling drone debris, Drozdenko said.

Also on Monday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that his country had agreed to establish a new mechanism to allow European Union funds to be deployed more quickly in response to Russian attacks  against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

The Kirishi refinery is Russia’s ⁠⁠second-largest, and the Leningrad region is a major hub ‌‌for the country’s oil and grain exports via the Baltic Sea.

Leningrad’s governor also said air defence forces had downed 113 Ukrainian drones, and that an apartment in Kirishi ⁠⁠had been damaged in the ⁠⁠same overnight attack on the region.

Russian forces struck three ⁠⁠power substations across ⁠⁠Ukraine overnight on Monday and also hit ‌‌a cargo ship in the Black Sea that Moscow ⁠⁠said was providing ⁠⁠arms to Ukrainian forces, Russian state ⁠⁠news agencies ⁠⁠reported.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify those claims.

Russia has kept up regular attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including energy sites across the country.

“Right now, many of our cities and communities are facing a very difficult situation with power, water, and heating supplies due to Russian strikes,” Ukraine’s president said in a post on X on Monday.

Zelenskyy said that he had agreed with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to “activate a special emergency mechanism” that would allow European funding “for what is needed most”.

“Our teams are already working on this,” Zelenskyy added.

The Kyiv, Dnipro, Sumy, and Donetsk regions, as well as Kherson, are facing the most acute energy crisis, the Ukrainian president said.