Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian forces reportedly launched an attack on critical Russian military-industrial sites overnight on May 8, striking an oil refinery as well as the branch of a defense technology center, Russian Telegram media channels reported.<\/p>\n
Photos and videos posted<\/a> by local residents to social media purport to show a fire emanating from the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl amid the attack. <\/p>\n The Slavneft-YANOS refinery<\/a> is one of Russia’s five largest and is capable of producing over 15 million tons per year.<\/p>\n Later into the morning, numerous explosions were heard in Rostov-on-Don where Ukraine’s military also reportedly carried out an attack on the city’s industrial area.<\/p>\n Fires were reported<\/a> at the Empils paint coating facility as well as a branch of the Radar Scientific and Technical Center \u2014 a research and defense technology company linked to Russia’s Defense Ministry, focused on the development of advanced radar systems. <\/p>\n The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the reports. <\/p>\n Although the type of weaponry used in the attack was not immediately clear, Ukraine regularly launches drone attacks against military and industrial facilities<\/a> in Russia, including oil infrastructure used to fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine. <\/p>\n Both the Slavneft-YANOS refinery<\/a> and the western industrial zone around Radar Scientific and Technical Center have previously been subject to Ukrainian attacks. <\/p>\n Yaroslavl is located about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from Ukraine’s border with Russia and lies approximately 230 kilometers (142 miles) northeast of Moscow, while Rostov-on-Don is situated in southern Russia roughly 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the front line in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Ukraine’s military has not yet commented on the reported attacks, and the full extent of the damage caused was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in Russian occupied regions, a fire was seen at a large electrical substation in the city of Krasnoperekopsk in occupied Crimea, according<\/a> to the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.<\/p>\n