Ukrainian drones strike Russia's Samara oil pipeline hub again

Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Samara oil pipeline hub overnight into Monday, setting fire to its tank farm, Ukrainian monitoring channels Supernova+ and Exilenova+ reported. Russia's defence ministry said it shot down 212 drones nationwide overnight but did not confirm any strike on Samara; the regional governor said forces were repelling an attack without giving details.

The monitors said the drones hit the Samara Linear Production and Dispatch Station in the city of Prosvet, about 835km north-east of Ukraine's border. Independent Russian outlet Astra reported dense black smoke rising from the site, and local residents said they heard several blasts before the smoke appeared and before flames became visible above the facility's perimeter.

The station, run by pipeline operator Transneft, blends crude oil arriving from Tatarstan, western Siberia and other Russian producing regions into the Urals export blend and supplies fuel directly to Russia's armed forces, according to Ukraine's General Staff. It holds 71 storage tanks with a combined capacity of more than 1.6 million cubic metres, among the largest tank farms in Europe.

The complex has been hit repeatedly since the start of October, with major fires reported on 2, 7, 10 and 11 October. The 7 October strike destroyed four tanks with a capacity of 50,000 cubic metres each, according to independent monitors, and the 2 October attack was estimated to have caused around $200m in financial damage, including lost crude stockpiles, monitoring channel Supernova+ said.

The latest strike follows reports that Kyiv had accepted a US-brokered pause on hitting Russian energy sites; Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine never agreed to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities. Ukrainian forces also struck a major refinery in Kstovo, in Nizhny Novgorod region, overnight on 1 November, part of the same long-range campaign against Russia's fuel-supply network.