A Russian oil base in the region of Rostov was hit by drones from Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) last night, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Rostov governor Vasily Golubev confirmed that two drones had caused two separate explosions at a refinery in the Proletarsky district.
He added that there had been no casualties, but gave no further details.
This move comes as the latest of a series of drone strikes from Ukraine meant to weaken Russia’s oil industry and retaliate against Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Earlier this month, another Russian oil refinery was struck by drones launched by Ukraine‘s Defence Intelligence (DIU) on the night of April 30 to May 1. The same night, Ukrainian forces also launched a similar drone attack on an oil refinery in Russia‘s Voronezh Oblast.
A previous attack in Rostov on the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in March also caused the base to partially shut down operations.
These attacks have prompted criticism from Ukrainian allies, such as the US, who have warned that they do not support striking Russian oil refineries out of fear it could threaten the globla energey market.
Speaking in Paris last month, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that while Washington was doing “everything we possibly can to help Ukraine defend itself against this Russian aggression”, they did not agree with the strikes.
“At the same time, we have neither supported nor enabled strikes by Ukraine outside of its territory,” Blinken said when asked about the drone attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky replied to this criticism by stating that Ukraine was fully in its rights to use its own weapons to strike strategic points in Russia.
“If there’s no air defense to protect our power system and Russia attacks it, my question is why can’t we hit them back? When Russia stops these moves, we will stop,” he said in March.