Drones attacked two oil refineries just 65-80 km east of Russia’s biggest oil export terminals on Wednesday, sparking a fire at one and causing no damage to the other.
The drone attacks deep inside Russia have intensified in recent weeks with strikes on Moscow, oil pipelines and even the Kremlin ahead of a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
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Officials say a drone struck the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, just after midnight, causing a fire which was later extinguished.
The Afipsky refinery lies 50 miles east of the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, one of Russia’s most important oil export gateways. The plant can process around 6 million tonnes of oil each year.
Novorossiisk, together with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, bring about 1.5% of global oil to market.
Last year the Consortium exported, via the South Ozereyevka terminal, 58.7 million tonnes of oil, mainly from Kazakhstan, while the terminal of Sheskharis at Novorossiisk handled about 30 million tonnes of oil.
Editor: Oloyede Oworu
