Ukrainian drones strike fuel pumping station supplying diesel to Moscow, military says
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukrainian drones struck a fuel pumping station in Russia's Vladimir Oblast overnight on Sept. 7, the Commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Robert "Madyar" Brovdi announced.
The attack hit a fuel pumping station that feeds diesel into the Moscow Ring Oil Product Pipeline, which supplies fuel to the capital and surrounding regions.
Drones piloted by the 14th Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces struck the Vtorovo station in the settlement of Penkino, Brovdi said on Sept. 8. The community is located about 210 km east of the capital.
The pumping station is operated by Transneft, a Russian state-controlled oil pipeline company based out of Moscow.
"Fuel in Moscow is acting up a little, they say," Brovdi mocked on Telegram. "Gasoline is becoming a scarce liquid, while gas and oil – fast-burning."
Neither the damage caused by the attack nor the impacts of the disruption on the Russian capital were immediately clear.
Ukraine has intensified long-range strikes against Russian energy facilities, targeting refineries and depots to cut into Moscow's war funding.
Ukraine's military has seldom targeted oil facilities in Vladimir Oblast, prioritizing locations closer to the front line that directly supply Moscow's war efforts.
The same night, Ukrainian forces struck the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai and the "8-N" oil pipeline control station near the village of Naitopovichi in Bryansk Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on Sept. 7.
In August alone, Ukraine struck at least 12 refineries, shutting down facilities representing over 17% of national processing capacity, or 1.1 million barrels per day.
