Ukraine’s long-distance armed drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a military base for Moscow’s elite own UAV unit in an overnight assault, Kyiv said.
Ukraine’s General Staff released video of the early Sunday strike showing the Novokuybyshevsk refinery, in Russia’s Samara region, after the latest drone assault on Moscow’s struggling oil facilities, the Kyiv Independent reported.
The refinery is one of Russia’s 10 largest oil facilities, with the Novokuybyshevsk site producing an estimated 8.8 million metric tons of oil every year.
Kyiv has defended the strikes against Russia’s oil facilities as a means to cripple Moscow’s ability to wage war by hurting its finances and the supply flow to its invading army.
The Novokuybyshevsk plant produces gasoline and fuel used by Russia’s army, including the jet fuel for its supersonic aircrafts, Kyiv alleged.
“As part of efforts to reduce the enemy’s offensive potential and disrupt fuel and ammunition supplies to Russian units, the Defense Forces of Ukraine hit facilities at the Novokuybyshevsk refinery in the Samara region,” the General Staff said in a statement.
The attack was carried out with Ukraine’s new “Bars” jet-propelled drones, which are capable of reaching hundreds of miles deep into Russia.
The Samara region is located nearly 900 miles from the front lines in Donetsk, making Sunday’s strike one of the longest missions carried out by the new drones.
Sunday’s attack also marks the sixth assault on the Novokuybyshevsk refinery during the war, with the previous attack launched last month, resulting in a suspension of operations, according to Ukrainian media outlets.
Along with the strike on the oil refinery, Ukraine’s General Staff said its drones struck a UAV storage site operated by Russia’s elite Rubicon unit.
Moscow’s fast-growing Rubicon is responsible for the intensifying drone strikes against Ukraine’s army and logistic networks, with the unit credited for helping retake Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year.
Russia’s defense ministry said 23 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the Samar Oblast overnight, with local officials claiming the attacks were successfully repelled.