A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an industrial site in southern Russia’s Saratov region, regional officials said Tuesday as authorities in Kyiv and Russian media claimed the attacks targeted an oil refinery.
Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin initially wrote on Telegram that there was “damage” at an unidentified facility. Three hours later, he reported that a fire at the site had been extinguished.
Busargin said there were no injuries due to the fire in Saratov, a region located around 275 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Moscow.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems downed 40 drones over five regions, including 18 over the Saratov region.
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Center for Countering Disinformation said the facility targeted in the Saratov attack was an oil refinery. Ukraine attacked the refinery in November as well.
“The plant plays an important role in providing the Russian army with fuel,” the center’s head Andrii Kovalenko wrote on Telegram.
He later added that the city of Engels, which hosts the Engels-2 air base, was also targeted in the overnight strikes.
Russian media, including those with purported links to Russia’s security services, published videos of what they claimed to be the drone strikes on Saratov and Engels.
Airports in the cities of Kazan, Kirov and Saratov temporarily grounded all incoming and outgoing flights over the threat of drones.
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