Ukraine is believed to have launched a massive wave of drone attacks on Russia in the early hours of Friday morning, striking also a key oil depot in the Voronezh region.
Kyiv’s forces have stepped up their aerial bombardment of Russia, as they target fuel depots, airfields and ammunition warehouses.
The aim is to try and disrupt logistical supplies to troops on the frontlines, where Ukraine is coming under intense pressure from Russian forces.
Vladimir Putin‘s army continues to make steady gains in eastern Ukraine, recently capturing the city of Vuhledar after months of attritional and brutal fighting.
In the early hours of October 4, Ukrainian UAVS reportedly hit the oil depot of Annanefteprodukt LLC in the village of Anna, causing a major explosion and fire to break out.
Video images circulating on social media from locals captured the moment the drones zeroed in on their target.
A huge boom is audible followed by a massive ball of flames leaping into the night sky.
Voronezh’s regional governor Aleksandr Gusev later confirmed the strike in a statement on his Telegram channel.
He claimed that a drone hit an empty tanker and that electronic warfare equipment had destroyed most of the other UAVs.
Ukraine rarely claims responsibility for attacks launched outside of its internationally-recognised borders.
Yesterday, drones also targeted the Borisoglebsk military air base in the Voronezh region.
The drones reportedly hit warehouses containing glide bombs, parking lots of SU-35 and SU-34 aircraft, as well as storages for aviation fuel.
The airbase is used to launch lethal glide bomb attacks on Ukraine‘s cities and towns, as well as on frontline positions.
A huge fire broke out at another oil depot in the Perm region, some 1,700km from Russia‘s border with Ukraine. A 10,000 square metre warehouse storing petroleum products in the village of Osentsy went up in flames.
The raging inferno engulfed almost the entire premises in minutes, as firefighters rushed to the scene to try and put out the blaze.
More than 60 firefighters and 19 pieces of equipment were at the site of the blaze. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is still being determined, with Russia‘s Ministry of Emergency Services denying the blaze was the result of a drone attack.
However, Tim White – a US journalist and documentary maker working in Ukraine – claimed the fire was caused by drones.
In a post to his X social media site, he wrote: “Last night I wrote about one drone attack on an oil depot in #Voronezh, about 400km from the border with #Ukraine
“Now this morning news that Ukrainian UAVs flew 1800km to #Perm region, to hunt-down more fuel.”