(Reuters) – The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday it had attacked Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea coast and that at least 40 explosions had been recorded at the site.
Tuapse is home to one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries, which has been targeted by Ukrainian drones several times before.
The Ukrainian military also said it had attacked two military airfields in Russia-controlled Crimea but gave no further details on any of the attacks.
Earlier, Russia said it had downed 83 Ukrainian drones overnight over its southern Krasnodar region, including the port of Tuapse, adding that some houses there had been damaged, though it made no reference to the oil refinery.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that three residential houses had been damaged across the region, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on Telegram that the international airport at Sochi, some 150 km (93 miles) southeast of Tuapse, had been briefly closed to air traffic to ensure air safety.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that a total of 128 Ukrainian drones had been downed over Russian territory overnight.
Russia’s SHOT news Telegram channel reported that Ukrainian drones appeared to have aimed at the port area of Tuapse and that residents had heard about 40 explosions in what they said sounded like air defence systems in operation.
Reuters could not independently verify the SHOT report.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Gareth Jones)
