Ukrainian forces have targeted an oil facility in the Russian border region of Kursk using drones, local Governor Roman Starovoyt confirmed on Thursday morning.
According to preliminary reports, the strike – on the outskirts of the city, around 450km south of Moscow – caused no casualties, Starovoyt said, noting that law enforcement and special services are working at the scene.
Several Telegram channels posted videos in which a large fire could be seen. Baza news channel said a 100-ton fuel tank was on fire, with firefighters working to bring the blaze under control.
The incident in Kursk is the latest in a series of attempted attacks on Russian energy facilities since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Last month, a drone was used to target an oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl Region. Earlier in January, a natural gas processing terminal run by Novatek in the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad Region, nearly 1,000 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, caught fire as a result of an “external impact,” according to the company’s press office.
Russian border regions have been routinely targeted by Ukrainian artillery, missile, and drone attacks, causing numerous casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. The city of Belgorod came under particularly heavy bombardment in late December when a Ukrainian attack killed 25 people, including several children, and injured more than a hundred.