Ukrainian forces attacked an oil facility on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine late last night, causing a large fire in which five people were injured, said the leader of the region appointed by Russia, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
„Late at night, the enemy struck the peaceful city of Luhansk, shelling a warehouse on the outskirts of the city," wrote in “Telegram” Leonid Pasechnik, head of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic.
Pasechnik later reported that there were five employees at the site and they were taken to hospital. All teams of the local division of the Russian Emergencies Ministry were sent to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings.
Pasechnik suggested, without providing any evidence, that the strike was carried out by a US-supplied long-range ATACM missile.
„Efforts to provide medical aid to the injured were complicated by the large fire”, Pasechnik wrote.
There is no official Ukrainian statement about the incident.
A video posted on the sites of Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers shows a large fire burning some distance from residential buildings.
Ukrainian military bloggers reported the strike, with one suggesting it was carried out by a missile.
Separatist fighters backed and financed by Russia in 2014 established control over large parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine after Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula.
Pasechnik became head of the separatist region before Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia annexed both regions – as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson regions – in September 2022, although he does not have full control over any
of them