Videos Show Russian Oil Refineries Ablaze after Double Drone Strikes

Videos circulating on social media show Russian oil refineries ablaze after Ukrainian drones attacked facilities in Russia's Rostov and Belgorod regions.

Vasily Golubev, governor of the southern Rostov region, said a drone attack on an oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk early on Thursday caused a fire covering an area of 100 square meters (around 1,100 square feet). There were no casualties, he said.

This marks the third attack on the oil refinery this year. Ukrainian drones also attacked the facility in March and April.

In the Ukraine-bordering Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack on an oil depot in the Stary Oskol urban district caused a fire and shattered windows in a security building. "There were no casualties," he said on his Telegram channel.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and energy infrastructure on Russian soil have ramped up since the beginning of the year. Kyiv began a campaign to hamper gasoline production, which fuels President Vladimir Putin's war economy.

At least 13 successful attacks have been carried out on Russian oil refineries during the conflict so far, targeting some of the largest in the country, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. Independent online Russian newspaper The Moscow Times reported Thursday that at least five Russian refineries have been attacked by drones over the past month.

Per estimations from the Pentagon's intelligence agency last month, at least 14 percent of Russian oil refinery capacity had been disrupted as a result of recent attacks.

The footage circulating online shows huge fires and plumes of smoke rising into the night sky.

Strikes on Russia's oil refineries have so far been claimed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR).

Olha Stefanishyna, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, said in March that Russian oil refineries were legitimate military targets in the war, although reports suggest U.S. officials have asked Ukraine to refrain from targeting oil hubs to prevent possible disruption to the global fuel market.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in early April warned that attacks on Russian refineries could have "a knock-on effect in terms of the global energy situation."

Ukraine is "better served in going after tactical and operational targets that can directly influence the current fight," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

But an investigation by the nongovernmental organization Global Witness shared exclusively with Newsweek in May found that a number of targeted oil hubs have played a role in Putin's ability to wage war in Ukraine.

Citing Russian railway data and military procurement contracts also viewed by Newsweek, the nonprofit group said its investigation proves that these refineries have been supplying Russia's army in Ukraine, and clearly constitute legitimate military targets.

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