Ukrainian drones have reached deep into Russia again, striking an oil depot in the south and a key pumping facility hundreds of kilometres from the front lines, Kyiv said — with Russian officials acknowledging hits in both areas.
In the fifth year of the war, Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian infrastructure, expanding its reach in recent weeks to targets as distant as the Urals.
Ukraine’s army reported that drones hit a “dispatch station of a major oil pipeline” in Russia’s Kirov region, as well as an oil depot in the Rostov region near occupied Ukrainian territory.
According to the Ukrainian military, the pipeline carries oil from Siberia to western Russia and Belarus.
Kirov region governor Alexander Sokolov said only that Ukrainian drones struck a “facility,” sparking a fire. He reported no casualties and urged residents to remain calm.
Farther south, officials in Matveyev-Kurgan in Russia’s Rostov region — an area frequently targeted by Kyiv — declared a state of emergency after a drone strike set off a major blaze at an oil depot.
The town’s head, Dina Alborova, said the fire spread across 3,600 square meters and released photos showing thick plumes of black smoke.
She said the incident affected residential houses and several shops.
Meanwhile in Ukraine, emergency crews were working to deal with the aftermath of a Russian strike on a warehouse in Dnipro belonging to Nova Poshta, a widely used postal company.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike at a Nova Poshta branch on 27 May
Nova Poshta, the private courier firm used extensively in Ukraine and abroad, said a drone hit its Dnipro branch and that “the building burned down completely.”
The company said none of its employees were injured.
“All these attacks must be stopped,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote online, sharing images of the flames.
“All that’s needed is sufficient support for our defence and continued pressure on Russia,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it observed damage to the exterior of a turbine building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine after a drone strike yesterday.
The IAEA team stationed at the Russian-held site said radiation levels at the plant in Zaporizhzhia remained normal.
Earlier this week, Mr Zelensky urged the United States to provide additional ammunition for Patriot air defence systems to help counter Russian strikes.
Efforts to negotiate an end to more than four years of war between Russia and Ukraine remain deadlocked, and have been pushed further aside by the conflict involving Iran.
