Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukrainian drones reportedly struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai overnight on Aug. 30, Russian Telegram channels reported.
Explosions were reported by local residents around 2:30 a.m. local time, amid reports of drones flying overhead. Videos posted to social media appear to show a large blaze emanating from a local oil refinery.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear.
The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the reports nor the location of the apparent fire.
A purported video of a fire at a local oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai following a Ukrainian drone attack on the region. (Exilenova_plus/Telegram)
Ukraine’s military has not yet commented on the reported strike, although Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russian infrastructure in the region since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kyiv has particularly taken aim at Russia’s fossil fuel infrastructure as part of its strategy to undermine funding for the Kremlin’s war chest.
Krasnodar Krai, situated just east of occupied Crimea and separated by the Kerch Strait, has become an increasingly frequent target of Ukrainian drone strikes. The region’s military infrastructure is critical for Russia’s air operations in the south and over the Black Sea.
Ukrainian drone strikes halt operations at Russia’s Kuibyshevsk refinery, sources tell Reuters
The refinery, operated by Rosneft, saw both of its main crude distillation units — CDU-4 and CDU-5, each with a capacity of 70,000 barrels per day — taken offline in the recent strikes.
