Not long after the President of Russia spoke from Red Square in Moscow during the solemn marking of Victory Day on Thursday morning, what is said to have been a Ukrainian drone crashed into one of Gazprom’s oil refineries in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan.
This is confirmed by local Russian authorities on Telegram.
The oil refinery is located in the town of Salavat, south of the million-dollar city of Ufa, and is approximately 1,400 kilometers from the front line in Ukraine. The drone attack may thus be the most far-reaching attack against Russian territory so far in the war.
view more
Fear of Ukrainian attacks
While Norway and Europe mark the end of the Second World War on May 8, the commemoration falls on May 9 in Russia and former Soviet republics.
Every year Victory Day, as it is called in Russia, is marked with a grand military parade on Red Square.
However, the previous three celebrations have been affected by Vladimir Putin’s brutal warfare in Ukraine.
“Ask for help”: – Uncertainty
The marking has, for example, been greatly scaled down in the number of soldiers and military vehicles and equipment, and it has regularly been canceled in a number of Russian cities located in areas close to the border with Ukraine.
The reason is supposed to be the fear of Ukrainian attacks, https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1784519042130210873.
view more
Looking for oil
Ukraine has for a long time directed drone attacks against Russia’s important petroleum industry, in particular Russian refineries.
In April, Ukraine carried out its most far-reaching drone attack against Russian territory to date. Then an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, about 1,300 kilometers from the front line, was attacked.
Refused to leave her husband
The attack on Victory Day hit even further into Russian territory, and may thus have been the most far-reaching so far in the war.
In April, the Ukrainian drone attacks had put 15 percent of Russia’s capacity to refine petroleum out of action, albeit temporarily.
The Reuters news agency then reported that the Russian authorities asked neighboring Kazakhstan for help in supplying Russia with fuel if needed.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokajev was also one of the very few foreign heads of state and government who took part in the commemoration of Victory Day in Moscow on Thursday.
