Two more fuel depots

Ukraine strikes two more fuel depots in Russia, defying US warnings

Russian oil giant Rosneft lost some 26,000 cubic meters of fuel following Ukrainian drone strikes.

BY VERONIKA MELKOZEROVA

Ukrainian drones destroyed two fuel storages in Russia’s Smolensk region in the early hours of Wednesday, a Ukrainian law enforcement official familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

The attacks came despite public warnings from US officials that Kyiv's attacks on Russian oil refineries risk destabilizing global markets, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urging the country to focus on military targets.

"The SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] continues to effectively destroy the military infrastructure and logistics that provide fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine. These objects are and will remain our legitimate targets," the Ukrainian official said, on condition of anonymity.

The strikes on the two fuel storage and pumping bases in the Smolensk region, some 500 km from the border with Ukraine. The attacks on the facilities, owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft, resulted in the loss of 26,000 cubic meters of Russian fuel, the official said.

"After powerful explosions, a large-scale fire and evacuation of personnel began at the facilities," they continued.

Smolensk Governor Vasily Anokhin confirmed that Ukrainian drones hit energy facilities in the region, adding later that there were no victims, but Russia’s emergency services needed to deploy three fire trains to extinguish the resulting blazes.

“Fires occurred as a result of an enemy attack on civilian fuel and energy facilities in the Smolenskiy and Yartsevkiy districts,” Anokhin said in a Telegram statement. “The fire is localized, there is no threat of its spreading beyond the objects,” Anokhin added.

Since the start of 2024, Ukrainian media has counted 13 attacks on oil refineries in nine regions of Russia.

"We have already reduced both oil production and processing in Russia by 12%. We continue to work, and the gas station country continues to blaze,” the head of Ukraine's security services, Vasyl Malyuk, told Ukrainian media in March.

The Russian government has imposed a six-month ban on fuel exports, which began on 1 March and will last until 31 August.