Ukrainian drones again hit oil pumping station in Russia's Tver Oblast, SBU source claims
Ukrainian drones hit the Andreapol oil pumping station in Russia's Tver Oblast for the second time in two weeks overnight on Feb. 13, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
According to the source, the oil pumping station that came under the SBU's attack is part of the Baltic Pipeline System-2 operated by Russian state-owned oil pipeline company Transneft.
The attack caused a fire near a closed switchgear and boiler equipment warehouse, the source said, forcing the facility to suspend oil pumping.
The station is located around 750 kilometers (466 miles) north of Ukrainian border.
"Every day this oil pumping station's idle time costs Russia tens of millions of dollars , since it is part of the pipeline that supplies oil to the Ust-Luga terminal on the Baltic Sea," the source said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these reports.
If confirmed, this is the second drone attack on the facility. The first one was carried on Jan. 29, damaging the filtration pumping area and additive tanks at the station, a source in the SBU told the Kyiv Independent.
Kyiv considers oil refineries to be valid military targets, as profits from the fossil fuel industry fund Russia's war machine.
Oleg Sukhov
