The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is behind the attack on two Russian oil depots in the Smolensk region.
This is reported by Army TV with reference to sources.
Itʼs about Rosneft oil depots in Yartsevo and Rozdorovo, Smolensk region.
26 000 cubic meters of fuel were stored at these bases. Now there is an evacuation of personnel due to large-scale fires.
"SBU continues to effectively destroy the military infrastructure and logistics that provide fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine. These objects are and will remain our absolutely legitimate goals," the source said.
Tonight, drones attacked the Lipetsk and Smolensk regions of Russia. The governor of the Smolensk region stated that the shelling caused a fire at fuel and energy facilities in the territory of the Smolensk and Yartsev districts.
Russian Telegram channels wrote that the Cmolensk oil refinery was on fire. At least four explosions were heard there. And in Lipetsk, according to local authorities, the drone fell into an industrial zone — presumably near the Novolypetsk metallurgical plant.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced this morning about the alleged downing of eight drones over various regions of Russia.
- This spring, Ukraine began to actively attack Russian refineries. On March 13, an oil refinery caught fire in Russian Ryazan after a drone attack. Prior to that, drones attacked a refinery in Nizhny Novgorod region and an oil depot in Oryol. At the same time, the oil refinery of the Lukoil company in the Nizhny Novgorod region lost part of its capacity due to the attack. On March 17, another oil refinery in the Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation caught fire due to a drone attack.
- On March 22, the Financial Times wrote that the US even called on Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, as this could raise global oil prices and provoke attacks on Ukrainian energy in response.
- At the end of March, a sharp decrease in gasoline production was recorded in Russia — by 7.4%, to 754.6 thousand tons.
- On April 10, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin advised Ukraine not to attack Russian refineries, but to "focus on military objectives."
- Last week, The Washington Post wrote that Ukraineʼs attacks on Russian refineries deepen tensions in relations with the United States. While the United States dissuades Kyiv from attacks on oil refineries of the Russian Federation due to fears of rising world prices, Ukraine considers them necessary to increase the cost of aggression for the Russian Federation.