Ukrainian drones hit oil hub in southern Russia
A Ukrainian security service official said Ukraine hit an oil pumping station in southern Russia; this was the final target of the campaign to attack Russia’s strategic infrastructure.
The Tikhoretsk hub in the Krasnodar region is one of the largest oil hubs in southern Russia and the only supply route for oil products to the major Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, the official said.
The official added that a large-scale fire broke out after the drone attack in Tikhoretsk.
The Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk was attacked by Ukrainian drones in early March, leading to a temporary halt to oil shipments.
The Tikhoretsk hub, operated by pipeline monopoly Transneft, has a railway terminal as well as extensive storage and oil mixing facilities.
The oil it pumps is for both export and domestic use, including at Rosneft’s Tuapse refinery. Transneft did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
While Russia’s regional task force stated that no one was injured in the drone attack, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that 80 Ukrainian drones were captured and destroyed over Russian regions overnight.
Kiev has regularly launched long-range strikes against Russia aimed at destroying oil refineries, warehouses and pipelines in a bid to cripple Moscow’s main source of financing for its war in Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly hit energy infrastructure in Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
Ukrainian forces have attacked several chemical plants producing explosives in Russia in the past month alone, said Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s state-run Counter-Disinformation Center.
These included two attacks on Metafrax Chemicals, as well as attacks on Dorogobuzh, UralKhim, Akron, and KuibyshevAzot.
“Ukraine is gradually destroying Russia’s military-industrial complex and its cycles,” Kovalenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
On Tuesday, Ukraine struck the key Kremniy El factory, which produces missile components, in Russia’s border region of Bryansk.
