Drones have attacked the Moscow oil refinery for the second time this week; an oil depot has caught fire in the Rostov Region
On the morning of 18 June, drones attacked the Moscow Oil Refinery for the second time since the start of the week. This was reported by the Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin.
He said that during the raid, which lasted from 4 am to 8 am, several drones reached the Moscow Oil Refinery site, adding that work to deal with the aftermath was ongoing.
He also stated that debris from the downed drones fell onto the grounds of the ‘Sadovod’ shopping centre, damaging one of the buildings. No one was injured.
Videos of the fire on the refinery’s premises were shared on Telegram channels. Plumes of black smoke rose above the city and were visible from various parts of Moscow.
In Lyubertsy, drone debris damaged a fitness centre and a facility in an industrial zone. In addition, the roof of the ‘Belaya Dacha’ shopping centre caught fire.
The Moscow oil refinery is located in the Kapotnya district and is owned by Gazprom Neft. A previous attack on the facility took place on 16 June. According to Reuters, the refinery ceased processing crude oil following that strike. One of the agency’s sources noted that the facility was planning to resume operations in the coming days at reduced capacity.
The Rostov Region was also targeted by drone attacks. According to Governor Yuri Slyusar, two fires broke out in the city on the premises of commercial facilities.
Meanwhile, the Telegram channel Astra, citing photos from eyewitnesses, reported a fire at an oil depot in Gukovo on Karl Marx Street. According to the publication, there are eight tanks on the site that could be used to store petroleum products.
Earlier, analysts at Energy Intelligence reported that, as a result of systematic strikes on oil refining infrastructure, oil refining volumes in Russia had fallen below 4 million barrels per day in early June. According to their data, capacity amounting to 2.14 million barrels per day was idle at that time.
