Drones over the Black Sea refinery: explosion and fire. Ukraine takes the war to Russia

Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory continue. War comes with increasing frequency from parts of Moscow. Yesterday dozens of drones hit residential neighborhoods and symbolic targets in the capital. This morning, an unmanned aircraft hit a power infrastructure. A fire broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery in the Seversky district of the Kuban region of Russia near the Black Sea. “The preliminary cause is the arrival of a drone,” said local governor Veniamin Kondratyev in a Telegram message, as reported by the Tass agency. The flames, which reached one of the fuel oil distillation units, were extinguished shortly afterwards. The governor says there were no casualties.

Yesterday a security guard was killed and other people were injured, two of them seriously, after an air strike conducted by Ukrainian forces against a temporary reception center in the Shebekinsky district, in the Belgorod region of Russia, bordering Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the drone strikes on Russian soil acts of “terrorism” and said Kiev was pressuring Moscow to respond.

The escalation worries Kiev’s allies, in particular the United States, which unveiled a new $300 million aid package for Ukraine, including new drone munitions, to be announced this week. The White House reiterated its opposition to the attacks carried out on Russian soil, without commenting on the possibility that the recent attacks were carried out with means provided by the United States. The US “does not support attacks inside Russia”, stressed White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, responding to a question about the recent attacks perpetrated in Moscow, for which Kiev denies responsibility. “We are gathering information about what happened,” Jean-Pierre said, noting that the United States’ aim was to provide Ukraine with equipment and training “to regain its territories.”