Ukrainian Drone Strike Ignites Fire at Russian Oil Terminal

A Ukrainian drone attack overnight Friday into Saturday caused a fire at an oil terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar region, local officials said. Authorities in Novorossiysk reported that falling drone debris started the blaze at an unnamed facility and injured two people.

Russia’s Astra news outlet identified the target as the Sheskharis oil terminal and depot, the endpoint for state-controlled Transneft’s main pipelines in the region.

Images posted by Astra showed smoke rising above the site, though the pictures could not be verified. Ukraine has not commented on the incident. Ukraine has expanded its domestic drone and missile capabilities during Russia’s four-year invasion. Strikes on Russian oil facilities that help fund the war have become frequent.

The death toll from a separate Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk, in Russia-occupied Luhansk region, rose to 11, Moscow-installed officials said. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called the dormitory attack a “crime” and directed the military to prepare retaliation proposals.

He stated that no military or law enforcement facilities were near the college. >"Mr Fico told me about his meeting [with Zelensky] but there was no particular message. I simply heard once again that the Ukrainian side, Mr Zelensky, is ready to hold a personal meeting.

Yes, I heard that. N. Security Council meeting requested by Russia, Ukrainian Ambassador Melnyk Andrii rejected war-crimes accusations as a “pure propaganda show” and said the May 22 operations “exclusively targeted the Russian war machine.