The drone attack damaged a fuel tank in the Oryol region of Russia
An explosion at an oil depot shook southwestern Russia in the early hours of this morning.
Fire raged in the Oryol region, a hub for pipelines exporting to Belarus, moments after a Ukrainian drone damaged a fuel tank just before 4am local time.
Footage shared on Telegram showed large flames piercing through the black sky above the facility.
Emergency services rushed to the site to contain the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
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‘There are no casualties, all emergency services are working on the territory of the facility,’ the governor of the Oryol region, Andrei Klychkov, said on Telegram.
He did not specify whether the depot was hit by falling debris or targeted by the drone.
Attacks deep inside Russia, far from the frontlines, have increased in recent weeks.
Moscow was also targeted by a wave of Ukrainian drones in the early hours of today.
Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed two drones were shot down above the Istra and the Ramensky districts in the Russian capital.
At least 30 flights were delayed and six cancelled at the major airports, Russian state news agencies said – a frequent move by aviation authorities during drone strikes.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said air defence systems destroyed at least six drones targeting Crimea from different directions.
The report on the Telegram messaging app did not say if there was any damage or casualties in the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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