Ukrainian drones struck a major fuel depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region early Thursday, the same site hit a week earlier, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said forces also struck two oil refineries in Ufa.
The overnight strike set the depot ablaze, according to Zelenskyy, who posted details on X. Ukrainian forces appeared to be trying to finish off the site after the earlier strike.
Zelenskyy said Defense Forces units struck the Poltavska oil depot in the Krasnodar region overnight. The target sits about 300 kilometers from the front line, he said.
The Security Service of Ukraine struck two oil refineries in Ufa on Thursday morning — Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim and Bashneft-Novoil — about 1,500 kilometers from the front line, Zelenskyy said.
Our long-range operations are consistent, precise responses to Russia dragging out the war and attacking Ukrainian cities and communities. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy tied the strikes to what he called a long-range sanctions plan. He thanked Ukrainian troops and said Russia should pursue real diplomacy “instead of once again trying to trick others or buy time.”
“The war must be brought to an end,” he wrote.
The depot supplies fuel to parts of Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Adygea and holds roughly 28 storage tanks, according to The Moscow Times. The head of the Krasnoarmeysky district, Alexander Kharitonov, said falling drone debris started the fire and that a nearby road was closed, Kyiv Post reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 269 Ukrainian drones overnight across several regions, including Krasnodar Krai and annexed Crimea.
A week earlier, on June 16, Ukrainian drones set fire to a Gazprom Neft-operated oil refinery about 15 kilometers southeast of central Moscow and to the same Krasnodar depot, The Moscow Times reported. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Ukraine launched 60 drones at the capital that night and that no one was harmed.
The Moscow refinery is unlikely to restore full production before the end of the year, Reuters reported.
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