Russia said Monday that an oil refinery in the country’s western Siberian region of Omsk and the Kursk II Nuclear Power Plant were targeted in Ukrainian drone attacks.
In a statement on Telegram, Vitaliy Khotsenko, governor of the Omsk region, said Ukrainian drones were shot down over Omsk during the day and that several managed to reach the northern industrial hub of the region’s administrative center.
Khotsenko later said that Ukrainian drones targeted an unspecified oil refinery in the attack, during which he said most of the drones flying in were destroyed.
“According to preliminary information, there were no deaths or injuries. Emergency services are working at the scene of the incident,” he added, without providing further details.
Ukraine’s General Staff later claimed in a statement that its forces hit the Omsk Oil Refinery, which it said is almost 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) from the country’s border with Russia.
“This is the last of the 11 largest gasoline producers in the Russian Federation to be hit by Ukrainian soldiers,” the statement said, claiming it struck an oil processing unit with a design capacity of 8.4 million tons of oil per year, according to preliminary information.
In recent months, Ukraine has targeted Russian oil refineries and infrastructure in airstrikes, which it says are intended to reduce Moscow’s ability to sustain its war effort.
Ukraine’s General Staff said last month that the Ukrainian military struck 16 major Russian oil refineries and fuel terminals between January and June, disabling more than 30% of Russia’s oil refining capacity.
“Upgraded Firepoint drones have put Siberia within reach of Ukrainian precision. This is a significant blow to Russia’s oil economy and an important achievement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said in an evening video address about the attack on Omsk.
Separately, Alexander Khinshtein, the governor of Russia’s Kursk region, claimed that Ukraine attempted to strike the Kursk II Nuclear Power Plant, during which air defenses shot down 12 drones heading toward the facility.
Khinshtein noted that based on preliminary information, a drone hit the cooling tower of the second power unit of the plant currently under construction, adding the cooling tower system has fortunately not been put into operation yet.
Meanwhile, the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant announced that the facility continues to operate in normal mode and that background radiation levels at the plant and its vicinity are also normal.
Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the claims concerning the attack on the Kursk nuclear plant.
