The leader of the Russian border province said Ukraine deployed UAVs to attack energy infrastructure here at night, causing a large fire at the oil refinery.
“Ukraine’s overnight attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against many targets on the territory of the Russian Federation have been stopped,” the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on April 24.
This agency said Russian air defense destroyed and intercepted a total of eight Ukrainian suicide UAVs, including three in Kursk province, two in Belgorod, two in Voronezh and one in Smolensk. It is unclear how many aircraft Kiev deployed in total in the attack.
Vasily Anokhin, governor of Smolensk province, confirmed that this area was targeted by Ukrainian UAVs, but did not mention the number.
“Enemy equipment most likely caused fires at energy facilities in Smolensk and Yartsevsky districts. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is handling the consequences at the scene,” he wrote on Telegram. This official later said no one was injured or killed after the incident.
Video posted on social networks shows a large fire at an oil refinery in Smolensk province. A witness said he heard at least four loud explosions at the scene.
The Russian oil refinery in Smolensk province burned down due to a Ukrainian UAV. Video: Telegram/Astra
Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev said on the same day that Russian air defense in the area shot down 4 Ukrainian UAVs. Lipetsk Oblast Governor Igor Artamanov said an enemy UAV crashed in an industrial park in the province.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has not commented on the information.
Ukraine has recently increased the deployment of large-scale UAV attacks targeting enemy energy infrastructure. On April 20, Kiev launched dozens of UAVs to attack a series of provinces within Moscow’s territory, causing many explosions and killing at least two civilians, according to local officials.
Russian media said that Ukraine has recently received a large number of UAVs from Western countries to compensate for the shortage of artillery shells.
Location of Smolensk province (highlighted in red). Graphics: Wikipedia
Western experts believe that Kiev wants to target Moscow’s network of oil refineries and energy storage facilities to disrupt fuel supplies to the frontline, as well as damage the energy export industry. Capital is considered Russia’s economic lifeline, leaving the enemy with no resources for war.
Ukraine’s UAV attacks are also becoming more sophisticated. On April 2, this country deployed drones to attack Russia’s UAV factory and oil and gas facilities in the Republic of Tatarstan, 1,100 km from the Ukrainian border, the deepest attack with this weapon since the beginning. conflict, showing that Kiev has upgraded the flight range of UAVs.
Some sources said that Ukrainian forces have equipped the drone with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, allowing it to independently fly into the target despite being jammed by the electronic warfare system.
