Kyiv confirms drone hit on Russia’s Black Sea oil facility
Ukrainian forces struck an oil terminal in the Russian Black Sea city of Tuapse, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Friday, marking the fourth attack targeting the region’s oil infrastructure in just over two weeks.
Explosions and a fire were recorded on the premises of local oil infrastructure, the statement from the General Staff said. Local officials in Russia said a Ukrainian drone attack sparked the blaze and that no casualties were reported.
The facility had been hit previously on April 16, April 20 and April 28. Regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a fire at the city’s oil refinery had also been extinguished Thursday, less than 24 hours before the latest strike. Meanwhile, Russian attacks continued to strike Ukraine.
Russia attacked the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil with over 50 drones on Friday, according to mayor Serhii Nadal.
Hits were recorded in industrial facilities and infrastructure, he said. At least 10 people were wounded, he added, while some neighbourhoods remain without electricity as a result of the mass attack.
Two multi-story residential buildings and port infrastructure in Odesa were damaged after Russian forces launched another overnight drone attack on the southern region, local authorities said.
As a result of the strikes, an apartment in a 16-story building was destroyed and the roof caught fire.
In another high-rise residential building, a fire engulfed the 12th floor, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. In a post on Telegram, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least five people were wounded in the region.
He said damage from overnight attacks was also recorded in the central city of Kryvyi Rih and the northeastern Kharkiv region, where railway infrastructure was hit. “Russia continues to attack our energy infrastructure, critical infrastructure, and civilian objects.
Tonight, there were 210 drone strikes, and about 140 of them were “Shahed” drones,” Zelenskyy wrote.
After years of relying heavily on foreign military support, Ukraine is poised to export its sought-after drone know-how. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is producing a surplus of up to 50 per cent in some types of weapons.
Military cooperation “is already underway” with countries in the West Asia East, the Gulf, Europe and the Caucasus, he said on Telegram.
The deals involve the production and supply of drones and missiles as well as software and technology, according to Zelenskyy.
