(Bloomberg) – A small, independent oil refinery in southern Russia was forced to shut down after a drone attack on Sunday, while Moscow’s military is fighting “heavy” fighting in northeastern Ukraine and along the Eastern Front following recent advances. continuing.
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According to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Kremlin forces are currently most pressing the areas near Bovchansk, Staritsa and Lipsi in the Kharkov border region, as well as the areas near Siversk and Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast.
On May 10, Russia launched what it described as a limited offensive operation north of Kharkiv. Russian forces are separately holding the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces also struck Ukraine's northern outskirts of Kharkiv with an Iskander ballistic missile on Sunday morning, killing at least five people and wounding 16. Regional governor Oleh Shynievbov said a “civilian” object in the town of Mala Danilivka was targeted.
“The Russian military launched a double attack on the object, once again applying the 'double strike' tactic aimed at the destruction of peaceful civilians, doctors and emergency personnel,” he wrote on Telegram.
Sinievov said several other locations were also targeted on Sunday, including the city of Kharkiv, where a guided bomb was dropped and an explosion occurred near a soccer stadium. Casualties are expected to rise further.
Earlier, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that in the past 24 hours it had shot down 103 Ukrainian drones, one tactical ballistic missile, 12 US ATACMS missiles, and various other projectiles.
The local administration said in a statement on its website that six drones attacked facilities in Slavyansk overnight, but no casualties were reported.
Ukrainian drones targeted the refinery, according to a person familiar with the operation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The refinery has been shut down for inspection, but it is not yet clear when it will resume operations, RBC reported, citing the head of safety at Slavyansk Eco, which operates the refinery.
The facility processes 4 million tonnes of crude oil per year, or about 80,000 barrels per day, and was previously the target of drone attacks in March and April.
The United States has criticized Ukraine's attack on a Russian oil refinery as creating a risk to oil prices and urged Kiev to focus on military targets instead.
“These attacks could have ripple effects on the global energy landscape,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a Senate committee hearing last week. “Ukraine would be better off pursuing tactical and operational objectives that could have a direct impact on the current fighting.”
Read more: Russia's crude oil exports decline as Baltic Sea shrinks
—With assistance from Volodymyr Verbianyi.
(Updates Kharkov region attack from first paragraph.)
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