Ukraine drone strikes set two Russian oil depots ablaze

Ukrainian drones struck two Russian oil refineries on Thursday, setting them ablaze, according to local officials.

Maksim Yegorov, the governor of Russia’s Tambov region, reported an explosion and a fire at the Platonovskaya oil depot on Thursday morning.

“Early this morning there was an explosion and a tank caught fire on the territory of the Platonovskaya oil depot,” he said on his Telegram channel, adding that emergency services were working to tackle the blaze and that there were no casualties.

Another fire broke out at an oil depot in the village of Enem in Russia’s Adygea Republic, but this was quickly extinguished, regional governor Murat Kumpilov said on Telegram. He said the fire had spread to an area of about 400 square meters (4,306 square feet) before it was tackled at about 6 a.m. local time.

A campaign of strikes on Russia’s oil refineries, which began in January, has been claimed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR).

Olha Stefanishyna, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, said in March that Russian oil refineries were legitimate military targets in the war as they fuel President Vladimir Putin‘s war economy.

Meanwhile, reports suggested 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.

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.

The attacks come days after oil storage tanks caught fire following a drone strike in the town of Azov in Russia’s Rostov region. Ukrainian intelligence claimed responsibility for the attack.

Emergency services had been unable to extinguish the fire at the oil depot in Azov after it was struck on June 17, according to an update from regional governor Vasily Golubev on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to stabilize the situation at the oil depot in Azov, where the day before a fire broke out as a result of a UAV attack. The fire has still not been extinguished,” he said on Telegram.

“At 16:40 the 2nd tank depressurized. Emergency Situations Ministry specialists continue to work to extinguish the fire,” the governor added.

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