Ukraine has struck another blow to the Russian oil industry, using drones to attack a warehouse near the city of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov and an oil refinery in Saratov on the Volga River, DPA notes, citing Ukrainian media, BTA writes.
Russian authorities have confirmed some of the strikes reported by Ukrainian media.
According to footage circulated on the Internet, the attacks appear to have had particularly severe consequences in Saratov.
"According to preliminary data, there is damage to civilian infrastructure," Saratov Region Governor Roman Busargin wrote on Telegram.
The refinery there belongs to the Russian state oil company "Rosneft", headed by Igor Sechin, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The facility has previously been targeted by Ukraine's air campaign.
The governor of the Rostov region, Yuri Slyusar, confirmed on Telegram that the oil depot near Taganrog in the Matveyev-Kurgansky district was still burning. He said that firefighting operations were continuing after a "massive attack" with Ukrainian drones, 50 of which were destroyed by air defenses.
According to the Russian military, over 200 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.
In recent months, the scope of Kiev's attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and military production facilities has increased significantly amid improved technology of Ukrainian drones, DPA notes.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones struck energy and industrial facilities in several Russian regions overnight, Reuters notes, citing Russian authorities.
In Kirov region, located northeast of Moscow and about 1,300 kilometers from the territories controlled by Ukraine, Governor Alexander Sokolov reported that drones had hit a facility in the Urzhumsky district.
The governors of Rostov, Voronezh and Belgorod regions, each of which borders Ukraine, also reported strikes, with three civilians injured in Belgorod.
In the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, Moscow-backed governor Sergei Aksyonov said authorities were imposing restrictions on the sale of gasoline. He did not give a reason, but Ukraine has been attacking fuel infrastructure in southwestern Russia near the Crimean peninsula for months.
Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had received a new IRIS-T SLM surface-to-air missile system from Germany, and called for "additional supplies of air defense ammunition".
"We also need missiles for air defense systems to have sufficient capacity to repel Russian attacks," he stressed.