Ukrainian drone attacks ignited blazes at a coastal fuel storage facility and an oil refinery in southern Russia, according to local authorities on Thursday. Concurrently, several regions across the country reported interceptions of numerous unmanned aerial vehicles.
Officials in the Krasnodar region reported that two fuel storage tanks were ablaze in the port city of Temryuk shortly before 4 a.m. local time. They did not specify whether the fires were extinguished by midday, but indicated there were no reported injuries.
In the neighboring Rostov region, Governor Yury Slyusar mentioned that an aerial strike caused a fire at an industrial site in Novoshakhtinsk. A firefighter sustained injuries while combating the flames and was subsequently hospitalized, he noted.
Ukraine’s military later affirmed that it targeted the Temryuk seaport and the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, utilizing British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles in the latter operation.
“The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to undertake essential actions to cripple the military-economic capabilities of the Russian invaders and compel Russia to cease its armed aggression against Ukraine,” the statement on Facebook declared.
Additionally, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that air defense systems intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones approaching the Russian capital over a 23-hour span, with nine of them shot down after 11 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Thursday morning that air defense units had downed 141 Ukrainian drones overnight across 11 Russian regions, including annexed Crimea and the Sea of Azov. They specified that seven drones were intercepted in the Krasnodar area.
Civil aviation authorities temporarily restricted operations at multiple airports, including Krasnodar, where flights were suspended throughout the night.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military stated that Russia launched 131 drones targeting its territory, of which 106 were successfully intercepted.
Since the summer, Ukraine has escalated attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure to disrupt Moscow’s oil revenues, a crucial funding source for the war effort. November marked a record month for such operations, with at least 14 drone strikes reported on Russian oil refineries.
