Russian media: Ukraine targets Russian oil pipeline facilities with drones

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine bombed oil pipeline facilities deep inside Russia on Saturday in a series of drone strikes, including a terminal serving the Druzhba pipeline, Russian officials and media said, while shelling from Ukraine killed at least two people.

Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia have escalated in recent weeks, and The New York Times reported that US intelligence believes Ukraine was behind a drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month.

Ukraine has not publicly acknowledged carrying out attacks against targets inside Russia. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

Kommersant newspaper said that in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, two drones attacked a station serving the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline, one of the world’s largest oil pipelines.

The Tver local council said a drone had crashed near the village of Erokhino, about 500 km from the border with Ukraine.

The Baza channel on Telegram, which is well-sourced among the Russian security services, said the drones attacked a station serving the Druzhba pipeline.

At least one person was killed and three others were wounded, including a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said the district governor in Russia’s Belgorod region.

Gladkov, whose region borders Ukraine and was a target of pro-Ukrainian fighters this week, said one power line was also damaged. In the Kursk region, said the local governor, a construction worker was killed in the bombing near the border with Ukraine.

Druzhba, built by the Soviet Union, has a capacity to pump more than 2 million barrels a day, but it has been largely untapped as Europe has sought to reduce its reliance on Russian energy after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year.

Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft said earlier this month that a filling point in Druzhba, in a Russian region on the border with Ukraine, had been attacked.

Drone battle

In its daily briefing on the Ukraine war, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that it had destroyed 12 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours and intercepted two long-range Storm Shadow missiles provided by Britain to Ukraine.

Russia also said it had intercepted US-made HIMARS short-range missiles and HARM missiles. The ministry did not specify the location of those interceptions, but it reported fighting at points along the front line.

Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials in Kiev have previously said that Western-supplied weapons would be used exclusively against Russian forces inside Ukraine.

Local governor Mikhail Vedernikov said two drones caused an explosion in the Pskov region in western Russia, destroying the oil pipeline’s administrative building. The accident occurred near the village of Litvinovo, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Russia’s border with Belarus.

“Temporarily the building was damaged as a result of two drone strikes,” Vedernikov said.

Written by Alexander Marrow in London and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow Editing by Frances Kerry

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