Energy infrastructure within Russian territory has again been hit by Ukrainian-launched drones.
Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian energy facilities in recent months, which have hampered Moscow’s war machine and supplies of its main export, although Kyiv frequently does not directly claim responsibility for the attacks.
Overnight Friday, at least three electrical substations and a fuel storage base caught fire after they were hit, according to a Ukrainian military source, cited by Agence France-Presse with video footage posted to social media showing the aftermath of the strikes. Newsweek emailed the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment on Saturday.
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One clip purportedly from the Kardymovo depot belonging to energy giant Lukoil in the Smolensk region, neighboring Ukraine, shows a fire burning, which is filmed by a bystander expressing his surprise. “What an explosion,” the man said. “There have been six explosions now.” Newsweek has been unable to verify this footage.
The Astra Telegram channel posted images of flames at an electrical substation in the village of Vygonychi in the Bryansk region caused by a downed drone.
Bryansk regional governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said on Telegram that air defenses had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack in which five of the devices were destroyed over the Vygonichsky district, and that there were no casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses had shot down 50 Ukrainian drones over eight regions, including Kursk, Moscow, Tula and Ryazan oblasts. Two people were reportedly killed from drone debris in the Belgorod region.
Citing an unnamed source, The Kyiv Independent online newspaper said that overnight attack was a joint operation of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR) and the Special Operations Forces (SOF). Newsweek has been as yet unable to check this.
Around 50 unidentified drones attacked various facilities across Russia overnight. In Smolensk Oblast, an explosion at a facility was recorded, particularly at the Kardymovo oil depot, which belongs to the LUKOIL-Tsentrnefteprodukt syndicate, leading to a powerful fire in two… pic.twitter.com/wLRLniduDu
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) April 20, 2024
A total of 12 Russian oil refineries have reportedly been successfully hit in a number of Russian regions as of March 17. On April 2, Ukraine also attacked one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in the city of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan, over 700 miles from Ukraine’s border, showing the range of Ukraine’s capabilities.
Last month, Washington reportedly warned Ukrainian officials not to target Russian energy sites because they risk provoking retaliation and driving up global oil prices. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Kyiv can use its own weapons with retaliatory strikes on oil refineries.
Markus Korhonen, senior associate at geopolitical and cyber risk consultancy S-RM, said that the strikes on refineries are limiting refined petroleum product exports, but not Russian exports of crude oil.
“By targeting refineries rather than crude oil production or export facilities, the global impacts are less drastic,” Korhonen told Newsweek.
“This is likely an intentional approach from Ukraine, which aims at disrupting Russian war-waging capability, while remaining mindful of the more significant impacts attacks on crude oil facilities would have.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.