The Ukrainian army claimed Monday to have struck during the night “the largest” oil terminal in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, with Russian authorities reporting a major fire.
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Kyiv has increased its attacks on Russian energy sites in recent months to disrupt the logistics of Moscow’s armed forces, which control nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory since the invasion of its neighbor, launched in February 2022.
“The defense forces carried out a successful strike last night on an enemy maritime oil terminal” which notably served the Russian army in Feodossiia, a town in eastern Crimea, resulting in a fire, said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army on social networks.
The attack on this site, “the largest in Crimea according to the volume of petroleum products processed”, was carried out using “missiles”, added the army.
Ukraine had already used long-range missiles, in particular, to strike the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol (eastern Crimea) in September 2023.
However, in recent months, Ukrainian attacks have been carried out mainly using combat drones, with Kyiv deploring the lack of missiles and blaming delays in Western deliveries.
The Russian occupation authorities in Crimea, for their part, reported a fire at an oil depot in Feodossiia, without mentioning the Ukrainian attack and while ensuring that the incident did not cause any casualties.
Online videos show at least two large columns of black smoke rising into the sky.
The occupation authorities also indicated that “part” of the city was without electricity and that commuter train traffic was suspended there.
Since beginning its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has carried out several campaigns of strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, the Russian army also launched a new attack against Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, first with explosive drones, then, in the morning, with two Kinjal ballistic missiles, according to municipal authorities.
The projectiles were shot down by air defense, authorities assured, according to which shards of missiles fell on three neighborhoods, notably on the grounds of a nursery school, near a residential building and in front of a supermarket, without cause victims.
A fire broke out on one of the sites, but it was quickly extinguished, according to the town hall.
