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Updated: SBU behind attacks on Russian oil refineries, military airfield, source says

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Updated: SBU behind attacks on Russian oil refineries, military airfield, source says
Flames come out of the tower of an oil refinery plant. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Editor's note: The story was updated with a comment from the Kyiv Independent's source in security and defense forces.

A fire broke out at the Ilskyi oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai after a drone attack on the facility on the morning of June 21, the Russian Telegram news channel Mash reported.

Russian sources also reported that drones targeted a military airfield in Yeysk during the attack on Krasnodar Krai.

A source in security and defense forces confirmed for the Kyiv Independent that a joint attack by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Navy's missile forces targeted the 167th training center at the Yeysk military airfield, where Shahed drones were stored.

Several blasts and secondary explosions were recorded at the base, the source said. SBU drones also targeted the Afipskyi, Ilskyi, and Krasnodarskyi oil refineries, according to the source.

Ukraine attacks 4 refineries, Shahed drone storage sites in Russia, military says
Ukrainian drones attacked four oil refineries in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai and Astrakhan Oblast as well as the sites where Russian Shahed-type drones are stored overnight on June 21, Ukraine’s General Staff reported.
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Earlier in the night, the Krasnodar Krai Operations Center reported that several districts in the region had come under a massive drone attack.

The strike on the Ilskyi refinery reportedly caused a 50-square-meter fire at the attack site. Two people were injured, according to preliminary reports from local police.

Authorities claimed the fire had already been extinguished.

In recent months, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry, which is crucial to sustaining Moscow's war efforts, as well as its military hardware.

Attacks on oil depots in Krasnodar Krai in May reportedly disrupted operations at two facilities, the Slavyansk-on-Kuban and Tuapse refineries.

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Abbey Fenbert

Senior News Editor

Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.

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