Four killed in Kramatorsk while Ukraine hits Russian fuel targets
Ukrainian officials reported deadly Russian strikes in the east and new attacks on refineries, depots and tankers tied to Russia’s fuel supply.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Russian aerial bombs killed four people, including a teenager, in Kramatorsk on Friday, according to Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin. The strike underscored the war’s toll on eastern Ukrainian cities while Kyiv said it was widening attacks on fuel infrastructure that supports Russian forces.
Filashkin said on Telegram that seven bombs hit residential buildings, a shop and private homes in the city. At least nine other people were wounded, he said.
Kramatorsk, a major city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has faced repeated Russian attacks during the war. Ukrainian authorities did not report further details on the condition of the wounded.
Ukraine reports strikes on refineries and tankers
Ukraine’s military said its forces struck two large Russian oil refineries, an oil terminal and an oil depot, along with 10 tankers in the Sea of Azov. The general staff said on Telegram that the Ilsky refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region caught fire after being hit.
The Ukrainian military also said the Ust-Luga oil refining complex in the Leningrad region was struck. It described both facilities as frequent targets of Ukrainian attacks.
In the Rostov region, Ukraine’s general staff said an oil terminal and an oil depot were attacked, causing explosions and fire. Russian authorities did not immediately provide the same account in the reported material.
Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, said 10 tankers in the Sea of Azov were attacked on Friday. He said nearly 50 fuel-carrying vessels had been damaged during the week as Ukraine sought to restrict fuel deliveries to Russian troops and cut off supplies to Crimea, the peninsula Russia occupied in 2014.
Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine, reporting from Kyiv, said the tanker attacks appeared to mark a new Ukrainian strategy. She said Ukraine describes the vessels as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” a term used for unmarked ships carrying oil that Kyiv says is illegal because the vessels are under sanctions.
MacAlpine said Ukraine is calling the effort a “logistics lockdown” aimed at roads, rail lines and other routes feeding Russian-controlled Crimea.
Russia cites refinery damage in fuel shortages
Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said Friday that Ukrainian drone strikes on energy sites were contributing to fuel shortages. Speaking to journalists in the Tver region northwest of Moscow, Novak said some refineries were partly out of service for repairs because of drone arrivals.
Novak said Russian authorities were working to improve security at oil refineries and use available production capacity. He said Moscow’s temporary ban on gasoline and diesel exports was meant to stabilize supplies.
Novak also said Russia currently has enough fuel processing capacity and that officials were seeking to send additional fuel to Russian regions. Late last month, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure had contributed to fuel shortages, while saying the situation was “not critical.”
Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said more than 50 million people, nearly one-third of Russia’s population, have been affected by the fuel crisis.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.