Drones attacked two Russian oil refineries located east of the country's biggest oil export terminals at Novorossiisk Wednesday. According to Russian officials, the drones did not damage the refinery in Ilsky but have set alight to a second plant at Afipsky in Krasnodar oblast.
Several videos from different angles were circulated online about what was believed to be the fire caused by the drone attack in Afipsky, which was quickly extinguished. However, the veracity of the footage could not be independently identified.
Novorossiisk is one of Russia's two oil terminals, the other one being the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). Together, the country is able to bring about 1.5% of global oil to the world market.
No one has claimed responsibility for launching the drones, but Russia accuses Ukraine of increasing its attacks on targets inside its country, including the attack on Moscow Tuesday.
Ukraine, on the other hand, denied its involvement in the drone strikes inside Russia.
The War of Drones
In a previous interview with Newsweek, Ukrainian interior ministry advisor Anton Gerashchenko said drones were the super weapons the country has at its disposal.
"This war is a war of drones," he said.
The use of drones by both Russia and Ukraine has become frequent in the past few weeks. The series of attacks started with a lone drone's attack attempt on the Kremlin in Moscow.
While Russian president Vladimir Putin said the capital's air defenses worked "properly," Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russian generals of allowing drones to attack Moscow.
"What should ordinary people do when drones with explosives crash into their windows?" Prigozhin said in a post on Telegram.
The Wagner boss went on to say he had warned the Russian Ministry of Defense about the possibility of drone attacks, "but no one wants to listen."
