Russian oil facility burns after drone attack – DW – 07/13/2024

An oil depot caught fire in Russia’s Rostov region on Saturday (07/13/2024) after a Ukrainian drone attacked it, its governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram. “A fire broke out at an oil refinery in the Tsimlyansky district after a drone attack,” Golubev wrote. “According to preliminary data, there were no deaths or injuries,” he wrote.

In addition, he pointed out that the fire was classified as difficulty category 3, which implies a regional-level emergency and requires the involvement of more than twelve units. “Fire units are working at the scene, 49 people and 14 machines are involved,” he said. Later, the governor pointed out that a fire train arrived at the scene and the fire area was about 200 square meters.

The Russian Defense Ministry simultaneously announced that its military had shot down four Ukrainian drones: two in Rostov, one in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, and another in Kursk, further north. Both Moscow and Kiev have used drones throughout the conflict, including large self-exploding aircraft with very long range. For example, the area that was attacked today is hundreds of kilometers from the front line.

Since the start of the war in February 2022, the Ukrainian military has regularly harassed Russian border regions with drone and missile attacks, such as the one that destroyed an arsenal in Voronezh last Sunday, although few have claimed the lives of civilians. According to officials in Belgorod, the region most affected by these attacks, the death toll since the start of the armed conflict has exceeded 120. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the armed forces to create a security strip in the Ukrainian regions neighboring Russia to reduce these attacks.

lgc (AFP, EFE)