Ukraine strikes Russian energy facilities as cross-border attacks escalate

Ukrainian forces struck an oil terminal and electrical substation in western Russia, a security source in Kyiv told AFP on Monday, the latest in a series of cross-border aerial attacks.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have escalated attacks on each other’s energy facilities in recent weeks, in bombardments that have piled greater pressure on Ukraine’s battered energy sector.

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The source in Ukraine’s defense sector said that drones linked to the security forces had carried out successful attacks on an oil terminal in the Belgorod region and an electrical substation in the Lipetsk region.

There was no confirmation of the attack from Russian authorities in Belgorod, but the governor in Lipetsk said a substation had been set ablaze without giving details or directly blaming Ukraine.

“There are no casualties. A fire on the territory of an electrical substation is being extinguished,” governor Igor Artamonov wrote on social media.

The Russian defense ministry had earlier said that its forces had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight over several regions as well as the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Twelve drones were shot down over the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, where a Ukrainian strike killed 15 people on Sunday, it said.

Eight drones were destroyed over the Kursk region, also bordering Ukraine, and four were intercepted over the neighboring Lipetsk region, it said.

Seven drones and four Storm Shadow missiles were destroyed over Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukraine has upped its attacks on Russian territory over the past several months.

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