Fire at oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar likely caused by drone strike, officials say.
A fire broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar Krai region following what was likely a drone strike, the regional governor said overnight on May 31. The fire was quickly brought under control and there were no casualties, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram. According to the Kremlin-affiliated Telegram news channel "Shot," the drone strike occurred around 3 a.m. local time after which the refinery was "engulfed in flames and smoke."
The Afipsky oil refinery is located in southern Russia, not far from the Novorossiisk Black Sea port. The port of Novorossiysk was the headquarters for the Russian Black Sea fleet until the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since then, Russia has transferred the headquarters to the occupied port city of Sevastopol.
A large fire also occurred[1] on May 28 at the Ilsky Oil Refinery, located some 55 kilometers northeast of Novorossiysk. Local officials claimed the fire was also caused by a drone strike. There have been an increasing number of reports about attacks on railway networks and oil refineries within Russian territory in recent weeks.
The drone attacks were also reported in several Russian regions on May 27, including the oil unit of the Druzhba pipeline refinery in Russia's Tver region. So far, nobody has stepped forward to claim responsibility for these attacks. Ukraine rarely claims responsibility for attacks within Russia or in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
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