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Fire reported at oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan Oblast

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Fire reported at oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan Oblast
Oil storage tanks stand at the RN-Tuapsinsky refinery, operated by Rosneft, in Tuapse, Russia, on March 22, 2020. Photo for illustrative purposes only. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Editor's Note: This is a developing story.

A fire broke out at an oil refinery in Russia's western Ryazan Oblast in the early hours of March 13, according to reports by Russian Telegram channels.

Local Telegram channels report that explosions were heard at the outbreak of the fire, after eyewitnesses reported seeing drones in the area.

The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify these reports.

Russian officials have yet to comment on the fire. Firefighters are reportedly on scene extinguishing the blaze.

On March 12, several fires broke out at Russian oil refineries in Oryol due to Ukrainian drone strikes, Russia claimed. Although Ukraine has not commented on the alleged attack, if accurately attributed, the attack would have been one of the largest conducted against Russia since the start of the full-scale war.

In recent weeks, Ukraine launched several drone attacks on Russian refineries, including in St. Petersburg, Volgograd, and Krasnodar Krai.

Kyiv often does not comment on alleged attacks on Russian soil.

Ukraine regularly launches drones over Russian territory. In recent weeks and months, Russian authorities have reported an increasing number of drone strikes targeting Belgorod, Bryansk, Oryol, and Leningrad oblasts, as well as other regions.

Russian media: Fire reported in St. Petersburg near power plant
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry published videos of firefighters battling the blaze, which it said was at a hangar and had not spread to other buildings. The ministry said that the fire had been extinguished as of 12:24 p.m. local time.
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Dmytro Basmat

Senior News Editor

Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.

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