Members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry work to extinguish a fireplace at an oil storage tank after a suspected drone assault within the metropolis of Azov within the southern Rostov area, Russia, on June 18, 2024, on this nonetheless picture taken from a video. | Photograph credit score: VIA REUTERS
Ukraine on Tuesday claimed duty for an in a single day drone assault on a Russian oil facility that sparked an enormous hearth within the newest long-range assault by kyiv forces in a border area.
In latest months, Ukraine has stepped up airstrikes on Russian soil, focusing on oil refineries and terminals, in an effort to decelerate the Kremlin’s struggle machine. Moscow’s navy is urgent laborious alongside the entrance line in japanese Ukraine, the place troop and ammunition shortages within the third 12 months of struggle have left defenders weak.
The assault set hearth to an oil depot in Russia’s Rostov area and greater than 200 firefighters had been on the scene, based on Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev.
The hearth lined an space of ​​5,000 sq. meters (55,000 sq. toes) however there have been no casualties, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry mentioned.
A Ukrainian official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to transient the media, mentioned the assault was a particular operation by the Safety Service of Ukraine, often known as the SBU. The drones focused two Rostov oil depots which have 22 oil tanks, the official mentioned.
It was not doable to independently affirm the declare.
kyiv officers sometimes decline to touch upon assaults on Russian territory, though they generally confer with them not directly.
Ukrainian drone builders have been increasing the weapons’ vary for months, as kyiv tries to compensate for its drawback on the battlefield. Unmanned aerial autos are additionally an reasonably priced possibility as Ukraine awaits extra Western navy assist.
