Ukrainian drones struck one of Europe’s largest oil transport hubs in southern Russia’s Samara region, independent media reported Monday, as local authorities confirmed the overnight attack without detailing any damage or casualties.
Samara region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said early Monday that air defense systems were repelling an air barrage and urged residents not to post photos or videos online.
Samara’s Kurumoch International Airport temporarily suspended flights for two hours during the air raid alert.
The exiled news outlet Astra said it used eyewitness photos of a smoke cloud in Samara to identify at least one targeted facility as Transneft’s linear production and dispatch station. NASA satellite imagery also showed a large, black plume of smoke rising in the area where the site is located, directly southeast of the regional capital.
The Transneft station spans 216 hectares (534 acres) and has 71 storage tanks with a total capacity of 1.6 million cubic meters. It receives crude from Western Siberia, the republic of Tatarstan, the Orenburg region and Kazakhstan via four pipelines before routing it toward two refineries and the Druzhba export pipeline.
Monday’s attack marks the fifth drone strike on the Samara linear production and dispatch station after reported strikes on Oct. 2, 7, 10 and 11.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 212 Ukrainian drones across Russia and annexed Crimea between Sunday evening and Monday morning. Authorities in the Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov regions reported minor damage and injuries.
In an interview with state TV channel Vesti on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees Russia’s energy sector, said Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries were adding to global fuel market imbalances and affecting prices.
That same day, Nizhny Novgorod region Governor Gleb Nikitin said a large-scale Ukrainian drone caused “significant damage” to an industrial facility. He did not identify the site that was hit. The region is home to the NORSI oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said Sunday that his armed forces had hit the Kamensky plant in Russia’s Rostov region, which he said was involved in the manufacture of Russian missiles.
Reuters contributed reporting.
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