Associated Press – A Ukrainian drone struck an oil depot in western Russia on Friday, causing a massive fire, officials said. Kiev forces appear to have expanded their attacks on mainland Russia ahead of the second anniversary of the war.
The local governor said four oil reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,000 cubic meters (1.6 million gallons) were set on fire after the drone reached Klintsy, a city of about 70,000 people about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the Ukrainian border. and state news agency TASS.
The attack was clearly aimed at upsetting the Russian public and undermining President Vladimir Putin's claims that life in Russia is proceeding as normal ahead of the March 17 presidential election. It was the latest in a series of stepped-up efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to attack more targets within Russia's border regions this year. Kiev officials say Russia's air defenses are concentrated in occupied areas of Ukraine, and more distant targets inside Russia are becoming more vulnerable as the Ukrainian military develops long-range drones.
The Russian city of Belgorod, also near the Ukrainian border, canceled its traditional Orthodox Epiphany festival on Friday, citing the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks. This is the first known time that a major public event has been canceled in Russia due to a drone threat.
Ukrainian state media said Friday that Ukrainian drones also attacked a gunpowder factory in Tambov, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) south of Moscow, citing Ukrainian intelligence officials.
However, Tambov Governor Maxim Egorov said the power plant was operating normally, according to Russia's RBC news agency. Mash news agency earlier reported that a Ukrainian drone fell on the factory premises on Thursday, but caused no damage.
In another attack consistent with this pattern, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that a Ukrainian drone was shot down on the outskirts of St. Petersburg on Thursday.
The remains of the drone fell on the grounds of an oil terminal on the southern edge of the city of St. Petersburg, said Vladimir Rogov, head of coordination for the Russian-annexed region of Ukraine. Terminal co-owner Mikhail Skigin confirmed that the drone was targeting the terminal.
St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, is about 900 kilometers (560 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.
Bryansk region governor Alexander Bogomaz said that in Klintsy, air defense forces electronically jammed the drone but dropped explosives on the facility. There were no casualties, he added.
Russia's Telegram channel shared footage purporting to show a fire breaking out in a warehouse, with thick black smoke spreading into the air.
Bogomaz said the fire was difficult to extinguish and required specialized equipment, adding that 32 people had been evacuated from their homes near the depot.
The same warehouse was also attacked by a Ukrainian drone in May last year, but the damage appears to have been less severe.
Meanwhile, a 57-year-old woman was killed in Russian shelling in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, and a man was killed by a landmine, the Ukrainian President's Office said on Friday.
