Kyiv: Ukrainian forces have struck facilities of the Ryazan Oil Refining Company in western Russia for the second time in less than a week, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement on Sunday.
According to the statement, explosions and fire were recorded in the targeted area following the attack, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The Ryazan Oil Refinery is one of the four largest refineries in the Russian Federation. The enterprise, in particular, produces diesel fuel and TS-1 jet fuel,” the statement said.
Ryazan was involved in supplying fuel to the Russian military, it said.
The General Staff reported that Ukrainian missile forces also struck the forward command post of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s operational group near the Korenevo settlement in Russia’s western Kursk region. No further details regarding the attack were provided.
The General Staff said that Ukrainian drone strikes on Friday caused fires at Ryazan’s production facilities and oil pumping station.
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014. Following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian military in the Donbas War. These first eight years of conflict also included naval incidents and cyberwarfare. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began occupying more of the country, starting the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The war has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.
In early 2014, the Euromaidan protests led to the Revolution of Dignity and the ousting of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Shortly after, pro-Russian unrest erupted in eastern and southern Ukraine, while unmarked Russian troops occupied Crimea. Russia soon annexed Crimea after a highly disputed referendum.
In April 2014, Russian-backed militants seized towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and proclaimed the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) as independent states, starting the Donbas war. Russia covertly supported the separatists with its own troops, tanks and artillery, preventing Ukraine from fully retaking the territory.
In February 2015, Russia and Ukraine signed the Minsk II agreements, but they were never fully implemented in the years that followed. The Donbas war settled into a violent but static conflict between Ukraine and the Russian and separatist forces, with many brief ceasefires but no lasting peace and few changes in territorial control.
(IANS)
