A Punisher drone, which the Ukrainian military has used during Russia’s invasion. It is not clear what drone was used in the apparent oil refinery attack.
UA Dynamics
- An oil refinery in Russia, near the Ukrainian border, appeared to be hit by a drone on Wednesday.
- Video footage showed what appeared to be a drone in the air, followed by a fire at that refinery.
- The refinery said it paused operations and appeared to blame Ukraine for the attack.
Video footage appears to show a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil refinery in western Russia, near its border with Ukraine.
Footage shared on social media shows a drone moving through the sky, followed by an explosion and large fire:
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Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 22, 2022
Reuters reported that video footage was filmed at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Rostov, which is located five miles from Russia’s border with Ukraine. It is not clear who captured the footage, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the footage.
The Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery appeared to blame Ukraine for the attack and said it had paused operations to assess the damage.
“As a result of terrorist actions from the Western border of the Rostov region, two unmanned aerial vehicles struck at the technological facilities of Novoshakhtinsk,” it said.
“Staff have been evacuated and technological equipment has been stopped to assess the damage.”
The Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery said the first drone attacked the facility at 8:40 a.m. local time, hitting a crude distillation and causing a fire, Reuters reported. The second drone struck at 9:23 a.m. local time and was aimed at crude-oil reservoirs, Reuters reported, citing the refinery.
Vasily Golubev, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, said there was a fire in the plant’s vacuum unit and that parts of two drones were found nearby, Reuters reported.
He said the fire was later extinguished and that no one was injured, Reuters reported.