The oil depots were put on fire in both Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday as the drone war between the two countries escalated targeting infrastructure ahead of the planned spring counter-offensive of Kyiv which will try to end the all-out invasion of Moscow.
Thousands of firefighters tried to control the huge fire for which Russian authorities held a Ukrainian drone responsible which crashed into an oil terminal which was on Russia’s side of the bridge which it built till occupied Crimea.
Meanwhile, a fuel deport was set ablaze in Ukraine after a suspected Russian drone strike took place in the central city of Kropyvnytskyi.
Across Ukraine, a drone hit an administrative building in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region and set it on fire. Ukraine claimed to have shot down around 21 of 26 Iranian-made drones.
Long-range strikes are being launched by the two sides since last week in anticipation of the upcoming counteroffensive of Ukraine, which is expected to mark the most decisive phases of the ongoing war.
Ending the two-month-long lull, a wave of missiles was fired by Russia last Friday, which included one that killed 23 civilians who were sleeping in an apartment building in Uman, a city which lies hundreds of miles from the front.
A suspected Ukrainian drone strike on Saturday placed a Russian oil terminal on fire in occupied Crimea. Dozens of homes as well as one industrial enterprise was hit by Russia in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Monday which Kyiv did not identify. Meanwhile, freight trains were derailed in blasts that took place from the last two days in a row in Russia’s Bryansk region which is near Ukraine.
Moscow claims military targets have been struck by its long-range attacks though no evidence has been produced by it to support this.
No comments are made by Kyiv on incidents in occupied Crimea or Russia but states that destroying infrastructure which supports the Russian military is part of Ukraine’s preparation for its planned ground assault.
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Black smoke and flames billowed over big tanks which had red warnings of “Flammable” in videos shared by Russian social media.
“The fire has been classified as the highest rank of difficulty,” said Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar region on the Telegram messaging app, further stating that there were no casualties.
Citing emergency services, Russia’s TASS news agency said that the facility was set on fire due to the drone strike. Moscow also blamed another drone for a huge fire caused in Crimea, in Sevastopol, which is the naval base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
(With inputs from agencies)
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