According to a Russian regional governor on Tuesday, an oil store in western Russia experienced a fuel spill and fire as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack.
In the Yartsevo district, Russian air defense systems “suppressed an attack by Ukrainian” drones, according to Vasily Anokhin, the governor of the Smolensk region, which borders Ukraine.
“The wreckage of one of the unmanned aerial vehicles fell on the territory of an oil depot. As a result, a fuel spill occurred and a fire started in the fuel and lubricants,” Anokhin wrote on social media early Tuesday.
He also stated that there was “no threat” to nearby residential buildings and that rescue efforts were still ongoing.
Ten of the 68 Ukrainian UAVs that were shot down overnight were destroyed over the Smolensk region, according to a report released by Russia’s defense ministry on Tuesday.
Throughout the nearly three-year conflict, Kyiv has attacked a number of Russian energy infrastructure, saying the strikes were justifiable reprisal for Moscow’s extensive attacks on its own electrical grid.
Ukrainian airstrikes regularly target Russia’s border areas, and in recent months, both sides have increased their bombardments.
The drone strike on Tuesday occurred one day after Russia and Ukraine exchanged over 300 POWs in an operation orchestrated by the United Arab Emirates in the run-up to New Year’s Eve.
One of the few areas of collaboration between the two sides has been the exchange of hundreds of captured soldiers since Russia started its military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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