Ukrainian drones struck two oil refineries across the border, sparking fires as Kiev’s army continued a series of retaliatory strikes across Russia.
The governor of Russia’s Samara region said the attack in Kiev hit two refineries owned by oil giant Rosneft in Syzran. He claimed emergency services were working to extinguish the blaze and there were no casualties.
Ukrainian sources revealed Reuters The Kiev SBU intelligence service attacked three oil refineries of Rosneft in the Samara region: Syzran, Novokuibyshevsky and Kuibyshevsky.
“The SBU continues to pursue its strategy of destroying the economic potential of the Russian Federation, which enables it to wage war in Russia. Ukraine,” the source said.
Unverified videos posted on social media showed a huge fire suffocating the refinery after it was evacuated.
Ukraine also tried to attack an oil refinery in Nokubyshev in the same region, but the drone was shot down, Governor Dmitry Azarov said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The attack reportedly occurred at 6 a.m. local time, about 600 miles (965 kilometers) from the nearest Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian and anti-Kremlin paramilitary groups have launched a series of attacks across Russia in recent weeks, mostly targeting oil infrastructure.
The purpose of this strategy is to impede the supply of fuel needed by Russian forces within Ukraine while reducing fuel supplies to the entire country.
Kiev’s military has successfully targeted facilities accounting for approximately 12% of Russia’s total oil processing capacity over the past few days, Bloomberg the report said.
An attack this week in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, killed five people, including a child, the region’s governor said.
Authorities in the hit regions said on Saturday they would close schools and public areas as strikes in Ukraine intensified.
“Based on the current situation, we have decided that shopping malls in Belgorod and the Belgorod region will be closed on Sunday and Monday,” regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media. He said schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.
The latest attack on Belgorod took place on Saturday, and the Russian Defense Ministry said its anti-missile defense system successfully prevented the attack.
“The attacks by Ukrainian radical sabotage and reconnaissance groups were repelled and attempts to penetrate into the territory of the Russian Federation… were thwarted,” the ministry claimed.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to undermine Russia’s presidential election. The country is on its second day of voting today.
With the lack of an effective opposition and the expulsion or imprisonment of any of his rivals, Putin is almost certain to win. He will rule Russia until at least 2030.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in