Explosions Rock Russian Oil Depot in Ukrainian Drone Strike

A Russian oil depot was attacked over the border overnight, Kyiv's military said on Sunday, in the latest drone strike on facilities carried out by Ukraine to hamper Russia's ability to wage war.

Kyiv's General Staff said on Sunday morning local time that its forces had hit attacked the Polyova oil depot in the Kursk region, which sits across the border from northeastern Ukraine.

The operation was partly carried out by Ukraine's SBU security service, the General Staff said. The depot was previously targeted in mid-February.

Kyiv has been consistently targeting oil depots and refineries with long-range drones, denting Russia's oil exports in the hope of cutting off resources Moscow can channel into the war against its western neighbor.

Kursk Regional Governor Alexey Smirnov said on Sunday that Ukrainian drones had attacked an oil depot and "three fuel tanks caught fire." No one was injured, Smirnov said.

In a later statement, the governor added that air defenses had destroyed two aircraft-type drones, with the falling debris of one drone sparking a fire at a home in the town of Medvenka, south of the city of Kursk.

An "explosive device was dropped from a Ukrainian 'copter onto a residential building" in Sudzha, a Russian settlement close to the border with Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region. One local resident was injured, Smirnov said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its air defenses had "intercepted and destroyed" five Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, and two drones in Kursk.

Moscow then said in follow-up statements that air defenses had shot down two Ukrainian drones over Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, and another uncrewed vehicle was destroyed in Belgorod.

The Kursk depot was used to support Russia's military efforts, Ukraine said, adding that the facility housed 11 storage tanks with a total volume of 7,000 cubic meters.

"According to intelligence, enemy air-defense systems were operating in the area of the facility's location," the Ukrainian military said. "Powerful explosions and a fire were recorded, probably involving tanks with oil products."

A second facility, a power substation also in the Kursk region, may have also been damaged, the Ukrainian armed forces said.

The Baza Telegram channel, which purports to have links to Russia's security services, said the drone attack took place at around 1 a.m., sharing footage it said showed the several oil tanks on fire. Newsweek could not independently verify the clip.

In March, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. had pushed Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russia's oil refineries over fears of spikes in global oil prices and the risk of Russian retaliation.

Olha Stefanishyna, a senior Ukrainian government official, previously said that Russian oil refineries were legitimate military targets.

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