Moscow, Russia. Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russia’s oil infrastructure overnight, damaging a tanker and an oil refinery in Taganrog and striking an oil depot in Armavir, according to Russian regional officials and Ukrainian military statements on Saturday.
Taganrog damage
Rostov regional governor Yury Slyusar said on Telegram that fires on the tanker and in the port of Taganrog, a city of about 240,000, had been extinguished and that no oil spill was reported. He said two people were injured.
Taganrog mayor Svetlana Kambulova said a local state of emergency introduced on May 27 had been extended. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had downed 127 drones overnight.
Armavir fire brought under control
In the neighbouring Krasnodar region, authorities in Armavir, a city of 185,000, said a fire at an oil depot in the city’s industrial zone had been brought under control and that there were no injuries.
Slyusar said almost 50 drones had been downed in his region, with attacks reported across the province, which borders Ukraine’s Donbas, the focus of fighting between Russia and Ukraine. He said that outside Taganrog, only minor damage was reported.
Ukraine claims responsibility
The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces said they had struck Taganrog and an oil depot in Feodosiya in Russian-controlled Crimea.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the Ukrainian military strike on the oil facility in Armavir, about 500 km from the Ukrainian state border.
“We are rightfully bringing the war back to where it came from. Russia could have ended its aggression long ago, but instead chose to prolong and continue it,” Zelenskiy said on X.
“So another facility of Russia’s oil industry has been reached – Armavir, Krasnodar Krai.”