Attacks on Russian energy sites are increasing. An oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region was targeted by a drone on Saturday, causing a fire, Russian authorities said. At least one person was killed in a drone strike in Belgorod, on the border with Ukraine.
Published on:
2 minutes
A fire broke out at an oil refinery in the Russian region of Samara (Volga) on Saturday, March 23, following a drone attack, Samara Region Governor Dmitry Azarov said.
Additionally, in Belgorod, a drone attack in the region bordering Ukraine killed one civilian and wounded two others on Saturday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
“This night, several drone attacks were carried out on regional oil refineries,” Dmitry Azarov said in a statement from the regional government published on Telegram.
One of these attacks “set fire to the Kubyshevsky oil refinery”, he stressed, adding that there were no casualties.
The refinery, operated by Russian oil giant Rosneft, is the largest in the Samara region with a production capacity of 7 million tons of oil per year, according to information available on its official website.
Increase attacks against energy sites
According to Mr. Azarov, a drone attack on another oil refinery, Novokuybyshevsky, also located in the Samara region, “was repulsed without damaging the technological equipment”.
“We see that the enemy who faces defeat on the battlefield is doing everything possible to shake our endurance and our unity,” he said.
Ukraine, which has been facing Russian aggression for two years, has stepped up its attacks against Russia in recent weeks, particularly targeting energy sites.
Kiev vowed to bring the fighting to Russian soil in retaliation for numerous bombings of its territory.
Drone attacks in Belgorod region
According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod was also targeted by a strike on Saturday morning that damaged several residential buildings.
“The morning was getting difficult,” the regional governor wrote in a telegram, indicating that two districts in his region had been attacked by drones. “One civilian was killed, two others were wounded” in one of these attacks in Chernyansky district, he said.
Also read“War”: Kremlin’s semantic choice, bad news for Ukraine?
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, claimed to have destroyed eleven rockets fired by Vampire rocket launchers from Ukraine over the Belgorod region.
The ministry says it neutralized “12 Ukrainian drones” over the regions of Bryansk (5), Belgorod (5), Voronezh (1), all three Ukrainian borders, as well as ‘above Saratov’ during the night from Friday to Saturday. 1).
with AFP
