Ukraine hits Russian oil bases, Russia attacks residential areas in Kharkiv and Odessa

Ukrainian drones attacked two oil depots in the Smolensk region, Ukrainian intelligence services told the BBC.

The attack was carried out against two bases for storage and pumping of fuel and lubricants of the company “Rosneft” in the settlements of Yartsevo and Razdovoro, Smolensk Region. They stored 26,000 cubic meters of fuel, media sources claim.

According to regional governor Vasily Anokhin, Ukrainians attacked an oil depot last night. “In all probability, as a result of an enemy attack on civilian fuel and energy facilities, fires broke out in the Smolensk and Yartsevo region. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is removing the consequences on the spot,” Anokhin wrote on his Telegram channel.

At the same time, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, only one drone was shot down over the Smolensk region on the night of April 24. Another seven were destroyed or intercepted over Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions.

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, regions of Russia are regularly attacked by Ukrainian drones. From the beginning of 2024, objects of the fuel and energy base became the target of drones. Over the course of three and a half months, Russian oil refineries and tank farms were attacked at least 18 times. All major oil refineries in the European part of Russia are affected.

As a result, oil refining plummeted, fuel prices soared and the government banned gasoline exports for six months. Russian authorities have requested additional fuel supplies from Belarus and Kazakhstan.

According to Rosstat, Russia lost 10.1 percent of gasoline production and almost 4 percent of diesel production in three weeks in March after a series of drone strikes shut down refineries in Ryazan, Syzran and Samara. Reuters sources noted that “in May, Russia may not have enough gasoline for the domestic market.”

A Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle has also fallen on an industrial zone in the Russian Lipetsk region, the governor of the region, Igor Artamonov, reported in “Telegram”. No injuries were reported, but residents of nearby settlements were evacuated as a precaution.

Six injured in Russian attack on Kharkiv

Russian rockets hit residential buildings and injured six people this morning in Kharkiv, local regional governor Oleg Sinegubov wrote in Telegram, quoted by Reuters.

According to Sinegubov, the attack affected three residential buildings, two offices, three non-residential buildings and a gas pipeline in the central part of the city. At least 568 windows and 33 cars were damaged.

Igor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, told Ukrainian television that two S-300 missiles were used in the attack.

Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing anonymous sources in the Russian armed forces, that the attack hit military bases in Kharkiv where Ukrainian servicemen were stationed. This information could not be verified by an independent source, Reuters noted.

Terekhov said work to restore the gas pipeline continues as the city rushes to restore gas to the affected part of the city this morning.

A woman was injured, 30 blocks and houses were damaged in a rocket strike in Odessa

Odessa was attacked at 07:00 this morning with two cruise missiles, a BTA correspondent in the city reported.

So far, there is only one wounded person, a 43-year-old woman, who has medium-severe injuries and is in hospital, reported Oleg Kiper, the chairman of the Odesa Regional Military Administration.

Nearly 30 blocks and houses were damaged by the shock wave of the rocket explosion, windows and glass were broken, ceilings fell in some houses, the regional governor said.

According to the information of the defense forces in southern Ukraine, the missile strike hit the car morgue.