KYIV: A Ukrainian attack in southwest Russia killed one person and wounded three more, local officials said Sunday, as Kyiv's forces continued to bombard Russia's oil facilities.
The head of Russia's Samara region, Gov Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said that a child was among the injured. He also said that residential homes and apartment buildings were damaged in the strike, as well as an unspecified “industrial site”.
Russian media outlets reported that the attack's target was the region's Syzran Oil Refinery, with many sharing images that appeared to show plumes of black smoke rising over the site.
The refinery, which is owned by oil and gas giant Rosneft and sits some 800 km east of the border, has been a repeated targeted for Kyiv's forces.
Meanwhile the governor of Russia's Rostov region, Yuri Slyusar, said that a tanker had been damaged in a drone attack in the Azov-Black Sea maritime canal. The tanker was empty and there is no threat of an oil spill, Slyusar said.
Ukraine's drone strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure across Russia have triggered a widespread fuel crisis with gasoline shortages and rationing in multiple regions and motorists waiting for hours to fill their tanks.
Moscow has responded by intensifying its bombardment on Kyiv and other cities, exposing Ukraine's vulnerability to ballistic missile strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure as part of Kyiv's campaign of “long-range sanctions” carried out in response to Moscow's refusal to halt its four-year invasion of its neighbour.
Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defence said Sunday that it had attacked the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk in Ukraine's Odesa region. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claims.