A significant fire has erupted at the Slavyansk oil refinery located in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Russia. The incident has reportedly damaged power lines and a gas pipeline.
Debris from drones has fallen on residential buildings, resulting in one confirmed fatality. Eyewitnesses shared multiple videos of the blaze through the Telegram project Exilenova+.
“What’s happening? This is unbelievable!” exclaimed a bystander in one of the videos.
The Slavyansk refinery is a critical supplier of fuel to Crimea, according to the monitoring group “Krymsky Viter.” Smoke from the fire has been observed extending over 100 kilometers, as per satellite images.
Governor Mikhail Evraev of the Yaroslavl region has also announced the drone attack, without specifying the targeted facility, warning that traffic would be blocked on routes from Yaroslavl towards Moscow.
Reports from Supernova+ suggest that the “Slavneft-YANOS” refinery, one of Russia’s largest oil processing plants, may have been the target.
Additionally, the Sakskaya TPP was reportedly under attack overnight, with 16 explosions and visible smoke occurring over the span of an hour.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, its air defense forces claim to have shot down 213 drones overnight, as reported by the state-run agency TASS.
Context
- The aggressor state, Russia, frequently attacks energy facilities in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Kyiv’s mission is to respond to such strikes. Reports indicate that TPPs and other sites within Russia have been targeted.
- Ukrainian defense forces also conduct strikes against occupier facilities in Crimea, intensifying their attacks recently, disrupting Russian military logistics and fuel supplies. Consequently, restrictions on gasoline sales have been implemented in Russia and the occupied territories. On June 26, power outages occurred in the occupied Kherson region and Crimea, leading local authorities to declare a regional state of emergency.
