(Reuters) -Ukraine attacked a small oil refinery in Russia’s Kaluga region with drones early on Friday, causing damage in an operation that was conducted by the GUR military spy agency, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters.
Kyiv has conducted a string of drone attacks on major Russian oil facilities in the last week, trying to target the lifeblood of the Russian economy more than two years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The privately-owned Kaluga refinery, located some 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the outskirts of Moscow, is not one of Russia’s important oil facilities. It says its primary processing unit’s capacity is 1.2 million tons per year, roughly 24,000 barrels per day.
The Ukrainian source said that Ukraine was checking the extent of the damage at the facility.
Vladislav Shapsha, the Russian governor of Kaluga region, said earlier on the Telegram messenger app that air defences had shot down four drones in the area where the refinery is located and that there had been no infrastructure damage or casualties.
There was no immediate comment from the company that owns the refinery.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the statements.
Ukraine has prioritised the production of long-range drones during its war with Russia to narrow the gap in strike capabilities as it faces a much larger foe with far more sophisticated weaponry.
Ukraine’s digital minister, who has championed the domestic drone industry, told Reuters in February that Ukraine planned to produce thousands of long-range drones this year for strikes in Russia.
Moscow has used thousands of Iranian-made “Shahed” attack drones to bomb targets in Ukraine since the first year of the war, Ukrainian officials say.
Two people were killed overnight in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia when a residential building was struck during a Russian drone attack, Kyiv officials said.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams and Alex Richardson)
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