In the early hours of 17 March, drones struck the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. Social media videos showed the refinery ablaze.
In the past three months, Ukraine has intensified its drone attacks against the Russian oil industry. Over the past week, Ukraine has targeted several Russian oil facilities with drone attacks, aiming to hit the core of Russia’s economy over two years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian sources confirmed the drone attack but claimed the drones were “neutralized,” although the footage showed drone strikes. “At around three in the morning, several UAVs attempted to attack the Slavyansk Oil Refinery. The drones were neutralized, but the fall of one of the devices caused a fire,” Krasnodar Krai officials stated.
Daily attacks on Russia's oil industry continue: currently, an oil refinery in southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai has reportedly been under a drone attack.
More Ukrainian drones are in the air and more attacks may occur before morning.
????https://t.co/huycqnHqGX pic.twitter.com/4YmO6cu5og— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) March 17, 2024
The Slavyansk Oil Refinery is an enterprise with a capacity of 4 million tons of oil per year. It is located in the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban in the Krasnodar Krai and is among the top five largest in the region. The enterprise includes oil processing installations, storage tanks for raw materials, and its own railway tracks and loading racks.
Russian authorities also reported drone attacks in other regions, including near Moscow (Domodedovo, Ramenskoye, Stupino, Kaluga), in the Belgorod region (Oktyabrsky settlement), in the Yaroslavl region, and in the Rostov region (near Kamensk-Shakhtinsky).
In total, the Russian authorities reported the downing of 35 UAVs. The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported damage to power and gas supply lines near Oktyabrsky.
- On 16 March, drones hit three oil refineries in Russia’s Samara Oblast.
- On 15 March, suicide drones attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Kaluga oblast.
- On 13 March, drones hit an oil refinery in Ryazan.
- On 12 March, Ukraine carried out a coordinated drone offensive, hitting and damaging at least two Russian oil assets – a refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and a fuel depot in Oryol.
- On 6 March, an oil depot in Kursk came under drone attack.
- On 14 February, a Kursk oil depot was ablaze after a drone strike.
- On 9 February, kamikaze drones targeted oil facilities in two Russian regions, hitting the Ilsky and Afipsky oil refineries in the Krasnodar region and an oil depot in the Oryol region, causing a severe fire at the Ilsky refinery and damaging a primary processing unit valued.
- On 3 February, residents of Volgograd, Russia, reported two explosions, with the Governor stating that Russian air defense units allegedly intercepted drones targeting an oil refinery.
- A vacuum distillation column at an oil refinery caught fire in Russia’s Tuapse City overnight on 25 January.
- On 18 January, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.
- On 31 January, a drone hit an oil refinery in St. Petersburg.
- On 18 January, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.
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