One of Russia’s largest oil refineries was damaged in an overnight drone attack, according to a local official.
Administrative buildings at the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Krai were damaged on Friday, governor of the region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said on his Telegram channel.
The Ilsky refinery is one of the nation’s largest. It has the capacity to refine 6.6 million tons of crude (132,000 barrels per day) a year, according to Reuters.
“Our region’s civilian infrastructure came under a massive attack by the criminal Kyiv regime. In Krasnodar, the boiler house building next to the Yuzhny bus station was damaged. In the Seversky district, administrative buildings were damaged at an oil refinery,” wrote Kondratyev.
“Unfortunately, there are casualties among the workers at these facilities. They are being provided with all necessary medical care,” he added.
A fire which broke out at the oil refinery as a result of falling drone debris was quickly extinguished, Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine hasn’t commented on the reported attack, but a campaign of strikes on Russia’s oil refineries since the beginning of the year has been claimed by the Security Service of Ukraine and Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate.
On Thursday, Russian officials said Ukrainian drones struck two Russian oil refineries—one in the Tambov region, and one in the Adygea Republic.
The Moscow Times reported on Thursday that at least 40 Russian oil depots and refineries have been attacked by drones since the beginning of the year, including some of the nation’s largest.
In March, Olha Stefanishyna, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister said Russian oil refineries were legitimate military targets in the war as they support President Vladimir Putin‘s war economy.
Reports suggest U.S. officials have asked Ukraine to refrain from targeting oil hubs to prevent possible disruption to the global fuel market. The Pentagon‘s intelligence agency last month estimated that at least 14 percent of Russian oil refinery capacity had been disrupted as a result of the recent attacks.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Friday that its forces downed more than 100 drones launched by Ukraine to attack annexed Crimea, Krasnodar Krai and the Volgograd region.
“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using unmanned boats and aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped,” the ministry said.
“Duty air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 70 UAVs over the territory of the Republic of Crimea and over the Black Sea, 43 UAVs over the territory of Krasnodar Krai and one UAV over the territory of the Volgograd Oblast,” the statement read. “In the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the naval aviation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet destroyed six unmanned boats of the Ukrainian Navy.”
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