Stavropol, Russia: A drone struck an oil depot in Russia’s Stavropol region on Friday, according to local governor Vladimir Vladimirov.
According to Reuters, this marks the second consecutive day of suspected Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, following an earlier lull after a previous incident in Tula on September 10.
The drone reportedly targeted the Svetlograd oil facility, igniting at least one fuel tank in a large fireball, as captured in CCTV footage shared on the Baza Telegram channel.
This attack comes in the wake of multiple Ukrainian drone strikes on energy facilities in Bashkortostan, home to the Bashneft oil company operated by Rosneft, one of Russia’s largest oil producers.
While Russia has labeled these incidents as “terrorism,” Ukraine maintains they are retaliatory measures in response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which have substantially reduced Ukraine’s energy capacity.
Although there were recent reports of possible early talks between Ukraine and Russia about halting attacks on each other’s energy facilities, Kremlin officials dismissed this claim, with Russian defence committee head Andrei Kartapolov reinforcing that Russia “will not spare anyone.”
Meanwhile, the EU has pledged to help Ukraine rebuild a portion of its damaged energy grid, aiming to restore about 15% of the country’s energy capacity in response to the severe disruptions caused by these strikes.
