Long-range drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) struck a critical hub for transporting Russian oil tonight - the main oil pumping station "Kaleykino" near Almetyevsk in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, Ukrinform reported, citing the SSU, BTA reports.
A source from the Ukrainian Internal Security Service said that during the drone attack on the facility in Kaleykino, six explosions were heard, followed by a large-scale fire. Oil storage tanks in the station's premises caught fire. The distance from the Ukrainian border to the oil pumping station is over 1,200 kilometers, the source emphasizes.
"The SSU is systematically working to reduce Russia's production and oil transportation capabilities. Our special operations are methodically reducing the flow of petrodollars into the Russian budget, which finance the war against Ukraine. This work will continue until the depletion and gradual exhaustion of the Russian economy," the SSU official emphasized.
The "Kaleykino" oil pumping station is a key node for the supply of crude oil via the "Druzhba" oil pipeline. The facility receives crude oil from Western Siberia and the Volga River region and blends it before exporting it abroad.
The attack, the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks along the route, risks exacerbating tensions between Ukraine and its neighbors Hungary and Slovakia, which accuse Kiev of trying to block the flow of oil through the pipeline to their refineries, Reuters notes.
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been disrupted since January 27, when Kiev said a Russian drone hit oil pipeline equipment in western Ukraine.
Despite a nearly four-year war with Russia, Ukraine has continued to transport Russian oil through pipelines on its territory. Early last year, however, Kiev cut off Russian gas transit.
Hungary and Slovakia have threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine if oil supplies are not restored.
Electricity from Hungary and Slovakia accounts for about 70 percent of Ukraine's imports and is crucial to the country, half of whose electricity generation has been destroyed or severely damaged by Russian missile strikes.