An overnight assault reached key oil facilities in southern Russia, adding pressure to a fuel network already strained by repeated Ukrainian strikes.
Ukrainian drone attacks sparked fires at an oil refinery, fuel depots and a port in southern Russia, local officials said on Friday, forcing residents to evacuate affected areas.
The latest strikes have hit Russia’s oil infrastructure after President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the repeated attacks were causing fuel shortages across the country.
Officials said the Ilsky refinery in the Krasnodar region caught fire after drone debris fell across the surrounding Severskaya district, including into the courtyard of a private home.
The refinery, which can process around 138,000 barrels of oil a day, has been targeted several times before.
In the neighboring Rostov region, firefighters battled blazes at two fuel depots in the Azov district and at the Taganrog sea port, Governor Yury Slyusar said on Telegram.
The Kyiv Post newspaper said early reports suggested the fire was at Taganrog’s Kurgannefteprodukt oil terminal, which unloads and loads petroleum products onto sea-going vessels.
Taganrog Mayor Svetlana Kambulova said residents were evacuated from homes in the affected areas. A private house was damaged, while the roof of an administrative building caught fire.
Local authorities reported no injuries.
Russian authorities frequently attribute fires and damage following drone attacks to falling debris from intercepted drones. Ukrainian and independent accounts often describe the same incidents as successful direct strikes.
Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian energy and other infrastructure in recent months in an effort to weaken Moscow’s ability to finance and sustain its war.
Repeated strikes on Russian refineries have contributed to fuel shortages, long lines at filling stations and higher prices across the country.
Putin last month said a task force was working to ease the fuel shortages, while saying the problems were “not of a critical nature.”
Kyiv describes the strikes as retaliation for Russia’s near-daily attacks on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defense units intercepted 376 Ukrainian drones overnight, including aircraft approaching the Moscow region.