Ukraine’s national security service announced on Wednesday that it has conducted a drone strike on two Russian state-owned oil depots located in the western Russian region of Smolensk. According to a Ukrainian intelligence official, the strike successfully destroyed over 26,000 cubic meters, which is slightly less than 1 million cubic feet, of fuel stored at the depots owned by the Russian energy corporation, Rosneft (Reuters).
Videos circulating on social media display massive fires and thick black smoke billowing from what appears to be two oil storage tanks at one of the facilities situated west of Moscow, near the borders with Belarus and Ukraine.
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The news of the strike was first announced by Vasily Anothkin, the governor of Russia’s Smolensk region, through a social media post on Wednesday. In his announcement, he expressed that his region had once again become the target of Ukrainian drone attacks.
According to Anothkin, there were no reported injuries during the attack. However, the civilian infrastructure did experience a fire outbreak.
Later on Wednesday, he provided an update, stating that the fire had been contained to a specific area. This meant that there was no longer any danger of the fire spreading beyond the immediate vicinity.
Industrial zones in the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions of Russia, located to the south of Smolensk, have also experienced drone attacks, according to local officials.
Lipetsk governor Igor Artamanov took to social media on Wednesday to announce that the recent attack on the industrial zone in his region, which was allegedly initiated by the Ukrainian regime, did not result in any damage to residential buildings. He further stated that there were no casualties reported as a result of the incident.
Ever since President Vladimir Putin issued the directive for a comprehensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces have been deliberately focusing on disrupting and damaging Ukraine’s energy, transportation, and food production infrastructure.
Ukraine has made several claims in the past few months regarding drone attacks carried out within Russian territory. These attacks have primarily focused on Russia’s oil infrastructure.
According to a Ukrainian intelligence source, the military in Ukraine is actively targeting and destroying military infrastructure and logistics that supply fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine. The source emphasized that these facilities are considered legitimate targets by Ukraine and will continue to be targeted.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced last week that it had successfully intercepted and destroyed a total of 50 Ukrainian drones in various regions, including the capital city of Moscow.
U.S. officials have previously expressed their concerns about Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s oil installations, cautioning that such actions might disrupt global energy markets. They have instead urged Ukraine to direct their efforts towards targeting Russian military infrastructure.
In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine has the autonomy to utilize its weapons for self-defense according to its own judgment.
