Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
A fire erupted at an oil depot in the town of Uzlovaya in Russia's Tula Oblast following a Ukrainian drone attack on the facility overnight on Jan. 18, regional Governor Dmitry Milyaev said.
Milyaev said that a fuel storage tank caught fire at "one of the enterprises in the region." Videos posted on social media and shared by residents appear to show a large fire at an oil depot in the town.
Milyaev claimed that there were not casualties as a result of the attack.
The Kyiv Independent cannot verify claims made by Russian officials. Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the attack.
No information on the extent of the damage was immediately available.
The attack comes amid an uptick in Ukraine’s drone operations targeting Russian energy infrastructure. Earlier in the night, Ukrainian drones reportedly attacked an oil depot in Russia's Kaluga Oblast, causing a large fire.
Tula Oblast, located south of Moscow, has regularly come under attack by Ukrainian drones as the country attempts to disrupt Russia's military supplychain. On Nov. 9, sources told the Kyiv Independent that Ukrainian drones struck the Aleksinsky chemical plant in the region, which produces gunpowder and ammunition for the Russian military.
Ukraine has targeted Russia's fossil fuel infrastructure as part of its strategy to undermine a key funding source for Russia's war effort. Drone strikes on refineries in Tuapse, Ilyich, and Novoshakhtinsk have led to reductions or suspensions in operations.
Overnight on Jan. 14, Ukraine carried out its "most massive" strike on Russian military and industrial facilities within a range of up to 1,100 kilometers (620 miles), according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Targets included chemical plants, refineries, and ammunition depots at the Engels airbase, a source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
Amid an uptick in drone attacks, Russia's seaborne exports of petroleum products declined by 9.1% to 113.7 million metric tons in 2024, Reuters reported on Jan. 17.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
