Ukraine attacked Russian oil facilities

“Our area was once again attacked by Ukrainian drones,” Smolensk Region Governor Vasily Anokhi wrote on Telegram at around 5 a.m. this morning (April 24).

The drone attack targeted “civilian energy and fuel facilities,” and caused several fires, the official added. Firefighters are fighting the fire and urge people to stay calm.

Smolensk region is about 300km southeast of Moscow and borders Belarus, about 400km from the Ukrainian border. There are no large oil refineries in the Smolensk region.

On the same day, Mr. Igor Artamonov, Governor of the Lipetsk region in southwestern Russia, also said that a drone had crashed in an industrial park. The incident did not cause any casualties, but nearby residents were evacuated to ensure safety.

Ukraine attempted to raid another oil facility in Smolensk last week. According to Mr. Anokhin, the drones were intercepted but debris fell on the oil storage facility and caused a small fire.

Since January, Ukraine has repeatedly launched long-range attacks with suicide drones targeting Russian energy facilities, including oil depots and refineries.

Some sources say that the US has called on Ukraine to stop these attacks due to concerns about affecting the global energy market. However, Kiev rejected Washington’s call, declaring that it would continue these attacks until the West provided more weapons and air defense systems to help Ukraine deal with Moscow’s wave of attacks.