Ukrainian drone strikes sparked a fire at a Russian oil depot on Wednesday. Photo by Ukrainian President Press Office/UPI | License Photo
Ukrainian officials said they struck a Russian oil depot with drones about 10 miles outside of its border in the Rostov Oblast on Wednesday morning.
Oil tanks were set a blaze at the FDKU Atlas oil facility, located near the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, east of the border with Russian-controlled parts of the Luhansk Oblast, a Ukrainian military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent. Advertisement
Three oil tankers were on fire as of 4 a.m. local time, an hour after two drones “fell” on the oil facility, the Russian Telegram channel Baza reported.
No injuries or deaths were immediately reported.
Rostov region Gov. Vasily Golubev said four Ukrainian drones had been shot down within the region, without mention of the fires at the oil depot.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that 12 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over Russian territory Tuesday night.
The blaze comes after a strike by Ukrainian drones on an oil depot in the Prletarsk district in the Rostoov region started a fire that was still burning as of Wednesday.
Kyiv ordered attacks on Russian soil for the first time this month, forcing Moscow to use its forces to defend its own territory at the border. Advertisement
The Rostov region, which sits next to the disputed Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, has been one of the favored targets for the new Kyiv offensive as Ukraine continued to regain momentum from the cross-border attacks.
Russia has responded this week by increasing the intensity of its attacks across Ukraine with its own drone strikes and missile attacks that have battered civilian infrastructure across the country, including the capital.
