Russian authorities suspect that a drone attack was the cause of a fire that broke out on Wednesday at an oil refinery.
It is the Novochakhtinski refinery, located a few kilometers from the border with the separatist region of Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.
“According to one version, the fire was caused by a drone attack on the technical installations of the factory.
Fragments belonging to two drones were found on the territory” of the refinery, the governor of the Rostov-on-Don region, Vasily Golubev, said on Telegram, without further details.
According to the governor, the fire caused no casualties and was extinguished at the end of the morning.
Refinery operations will be suspended pending the conclusion of an investigation to assess the extent of the damage, he added.
A video posted on social networks, the authenticity of which could not be immediately verified, shows a drone flying over an industrial area, shortly before an explosion accompanied by a ball of fire.
🇷🇺🛢💥 Footage, reportedly showing a drone attack on the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Rostov region, Russia.
pic.twitter.com/Qv5Rcjco3U
— PiQ (@PriapusIQ) June 22, 2022
The production of this refinery, whose activity began in 2009, can reach 7.5 million tonnes per year.
Russia, which has been leading a military offensive against Ukraine since the end of February, has repeatedly accused kyiv forces of having bombed Russian border towns.
Last month, the governor of the Kursk region (southwest) claimed that one person had died in a Ukrainian strike on a border village.
And in early April, the governor of the Belgorod border region accused Ukraine of carrying out an attack on a fuel depot with two helicopters.
