Moscow, July 19, (dpa/GNA) – Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Russia’s oil industry, have triggered several major fires in the south of the country, Russian authorities reported on Sunday.
Three oil depots had caught fire in the Stavropol region, local media reported. Stavropol Governor, Vladimir Vladimirov, confirmed that multiple fires and explosions had broken out at industrial facilities. He said no injuries had been reported. The governor did not identify the affected facilities but said, a localized state of emergency had been declared.
Buildings were evacuated and residents moved to safety, he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published videos that he said showed the burning facilities. “We will continue our response to Russian attacks in a fully justified and precise manner,” he said.
He added that tankers belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet in the Black Sea had also been targeted. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) had reported renewed Ukrainian drone attacks on its terminal in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. According to the consortium, the terminal had come under attack while oil was being loaded onto two foreign tankers.
A fire aboard one vessel sailing under the Liberian flag was extinguished, the company said. No one was injured, and both ships remained seaworthy. The CPC described the incident as the “fifth act of aggression against a civilian facility” under its operation. Ukraine targets Russia’s oil industry in an effort to disrupt energy exports, a major source of revenue for Moscow’s war effort. Ukraine has been warding off a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
GNA