Russia will respond to Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries and other energy and logistics infrastructure, President Vladimir Putin said. According to him, the latest attacks did not cause significant damage.
„They should not have started this. Before taking such a step, they should have thought carefully about the consequences“, Putin said, quoted by News.bg and RIA Novosti.
Fire at a refinery in the Ryazan region
His statement followed a major Ukrainian drone attack on the Ryazan region. According to Governor Pavel Malkov, a fire broke out at an oil refinery during the strike. No casualties were reported, and the extent of material damage was not specified.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces used drones and Flamingo missiles. The claim about the type of weapons used was not confirmed by the Ukrainian side.
Reports of two more refineries attacked
A day earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that two oil refineries in the Saratov and Ryazan regions had been attacked. Novak did not provide details about the nature of the damage and disruptions in the operations of the facilities.
Reuters reported that the fire at the Ryazan refinery was caused by a large-scale drone attack, citing the governor of the region. The agency has not been able to independently confirm the extent of the damage.
The strike followed a controversial energy truce
The attack is the first reported Ukrainian strike on a Russian energy facility since US President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy truce. However, neither Moscow nor Kiev have officially confirmed that such an agreement has been reached.
Recent Russian statements indicate that Moscow views the attacks on the refineries as an action to which it intends to respond. Kiev has not officially claimed responsibility for the strike in the Ryazan region, and there is still no independent assessment of the damage to the facility.
Sources: bta.bg, news.bg, internazionale.it