Ukraine's SBU behind attacks on Russian oil refineries

2024-03-13 15:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) is behind a wave of drone attacks on several Russian regions on March 13 that reportedly set fire to a Rosneft refinery and targeted other economic and military targets, a source said. in SBU for Radio Free Europe.

Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier that air defenses had shot down 65 Ukrainian drones in six regions – 35 in Voronezh, 25 in Belgorod, eight in Bryansk and Kursk, one in Leningrad, one in the Ryazan region – while regional officials reported that the refinery Rosneft's oil refinery in Ryazan was attacked a day after a drone strike caused extensive damage to Lukoil's refinery.

Pavel Malkov, governor of Ryazan, about 180 kilometers southeast of Moscow, said the local Rosneft oil refinery - Russia's seventh largest - was engulfed in flames as a result of a drone strike. He reported no casualties.

The SHOT Telegram channel reported that two people were injured in the attack on Rosneft's Ryazannefteprodukt branch.

The SBU source told REL that three oil refineries in Russia – one in Ryazan, one in Kstovo in the Nizhni Novgorod region and one in Kirishi in the Leningrad region – have been targeted by Ukrainian drones, as Kiev aims to cause as many a lot of damage to the Russian economy.

"Systematically, we have implemented a detailed strategy to weaken the economic potential of the Russian Federation. Our task is to deprive the enemy of imprisonment and reduce the flow of oil and fuel money, which Russia uses for war and killing of our citizens," the source said.

Ukrainian drones have also targeted a Russian airbase in Buturlinjvka, and a military airbase in the Voronezh region, the source said.

"We are at war with everything that finances the Russian military and the war. And Russia is at war with civilians and high-rise buildings," Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidency's office, said in a Telegram post, without confirming the attacks.

The March 13 attacks came a day after another wave of attacks hit several targets in Russia, as fires were reported at two major oil facilities.

The attacks damaged Lukoil's NORSI refinery, which is the fourth largest refinery in Russia./ REL