Kamikaze drones ignite Russian refineries, escalating oil crisis
The campaign against the Russian oil industry continues. Early on Saturday morning, kamikaze drones targeted two refineries in the Samara region, located approximately 620 miles from the front line, igniting fires.
4:28 AM EDT, March 16, 2024
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Early on Saturday, around 11 p.m. Eastern Time, kamikaze drones launched simultaneous strikes on two refineries in Russia's Samara region.
"The first drone struck the oil refinery in Syzran, igniting a fire. The blaze now spans roughly 5382 square feet. Emergency services are actively responding to the situation. Simultaneously, several drones hit the refinery in Novokuibyshevsk, where a fire also erupted but was extinguished about half an hour later," according to a post by the independent Russian channel Baza on Telegram.
These incidents mark yet another series of attacks aimed at disrupting Putin's oil industry, following a drone strike on a refinery in the Kaluga region from March 14 to March 15, which resulted in a significant fire. These actions have repercussions for the Russian populace, with gasoline prices on the rise and production dropping by an estimated seven to eight percent, experts suggest.
Nighttime drone attacks across Russia
Official Russian sources confirm that over the night and into Saturday morning, Ukrainian kamikaze drones were reported in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, reported that a drone hit a passenger car in the village of Glotovo (Grayvoronsky district), injuring five occupants.
By morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that both the Kursk and Belgorod regions had come under drone and missile attacks. Russian air defense forces reportedly downed five drones over the Kursk region and three drones and two missiles over the Belgorod region.
Source: Baza/TASS/Espreso
