Empils is one of the largest paint and chemical manufacturers in southern Russia and was previously targeted in a drone strike earlier this year. Latvia said several drones crossed from Russia into its airspace, with two reportedly crashing near Rēzekne and one sparking a fire at an oil storage facility. OSINT project ASTRA said geolocation analysis placed the blaze near the Empils chemical plant and a branch of the Radar Scientific and Technical Center, a defense-linked enterprise that reportedly cooperates with Russia’s Defense Ministry.

Farther south, explosions rocked Rostov-on-Don overnight, with footage shared online showing a large fire burning in the city’s western industrial district. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed 264 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones between midnight and 7 a.m. Moscow time across more than a dozen regions, including the Moscow region.

Ukrainian drones struck multiple targets deep inside Russia early morning on Friday, May 8, setting ablaze a major oil refinery in Yaroslavl and triggering explosions near military-linked industrial facilities in Rostov-on-Don, according to Russian monitoring channels and OSINT analysts. In Yaroslavl, another fire erupted at the Slavneft-YANOS refinery , one of Russia’s largest oil-processing facilities and a key fuel supplier in the country’s central region, ASTRA reported after analyzing eyewitness footage.

Ceasefire bids collide before Victory Day The overnight attack came amid competing ceasefire proposals ahead of Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. The Kremlin had proposed a temporary truce for May 8-9 tied to the anniversary events. Zelensky dismissed the proposal as “cynical,” calling it a “theatrical performance” designed to protect the Red Square parade from potential Ukrainian strikes rather than establish a genuine pause in fighting.

Kyiv instead proposed what Zelensky described as a unilateral “regime of silence” beginning May 6 to test whether Moscow was serious about pursuing a real ceasefire. According to the Ukrainian president, Moscow ignored the offer and violated the proposal within hours. “Russia has not stopped any type of its military activity,” he said.

Zelensky added that Ukraine would respond “mirror-like” to Russian actions and determine “fully justified responses” depending on developments overnight and on May 7. Moscow, meanwhile, warned foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations on Wednesday that it could launch “massive retaliatory strikes” on Kyiv, including against what it called “decision-making centers,” if Ukraine disrupts Victory Day events in the Russian capital.

Advertisement Russia has also scaled back this year’s May 9 parade, with state media and officials indicating that heavy military equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles may not appear for the first time since 2007. Russian officials cited the “operational situation,” while Zelensky suggested fears of Ukrainian drone strikes were the real reason behind the reduced display.