KYIV — Ukrainian drones struck Russian oil facilities and tankers for another consecutive day, targeting energy infrastructure and maritime assets as Kyiv intensified a campaign aimed at disrupting fuel supplies that support Moscow's war effort, while Russian authorities reported fires at industrial sites and said air defenses had intercepted many of the incoming drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks hit oil depots in Russia's Tver and Stavropol regions, a reserve fuel facility in another region, an oil pumping station in the republic of Bashkortostan and a marine loading terminal in the Rostov region. He described the strikes as part of Ukraine's effort to weaken Russia's military logistics.
In Russia's Tver region, acting Governor Vitaly Korolyov said a storage tank at an oil depot caught fire after what he described as efforts to repel an overnight drone attack. He said firefighters later contained the blaze and that there were no reported injuries.
Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said drones struck an industrial facility, triggering a fire that later spread to tanks containing flammable materials. He said nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution and reported no immediate casualties.
Regional officials in Russia also reported attacks on oil tankers in the Sea of Azov, where vessels caught fire following drone strikes. Ukrainian authorities have not released detailed operational information on the maritime attacks, while independent verification of the full extent of the reported damage was not immediately available.
The strikes come as Ukraine expands long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, which analysts say are intended to reduce fuel production, complicate military logistics and cut oil revenues that finance Moscow's invasion. The International Energy Agency said the sustained attacks have contributed to lower forecasts for Russian oil production in 2026 and 2027 after repeated disruptions to refineries, storage facilities and transport infrastructure.
Russia has responded by tightening restrictions on fuel exports and carrying out repairs at damaged facilities while continuing long-range missile and drone attacks against targets across Ukraine. Moscow says its air defenses continue to intercept large numbers of Ukrainian drones, although it acknowledges that some strikes have caused damage to industrial sites.
Neither side's battlefield claims could be independently verified. As of Friday, Russian authorities continued assessing damage at the affected facilities while Ukraine indicated it would maintain pressure on military-related energy infrastructure inside Russia.
