Russian oil depot on fire
Ukraine drone downed but dropped bomb on target.
A fire raged at an oil depot on Friday in the Russian region of Bryansk bordering Ukraine following a drone strike claimed by Kyiv, the regional governor said.
Alexander Bogomaz said the Ukrainian drone was “neutralized” but it “dropped a munition” as it was intercepted, which struck an oil depot at Klintsy, a town of some 60,000 habitants located about 70 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
He said there were no victims but that a blaze erupted at the depot and 13 fire trucks had been deployed to battle the flames.
A local rail operator said a train, specially equipped to deal with large fires had arrived in the town to help battle the blaze.
On Thursday, Ukraine also claimed responsibility for a drone attack in the northern Leningrad region bordering Finland and located nearly 1,000 kilometers from the border.
The territory is home to Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg that has up to now rarely seen such attacks.
NATO drill
Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization announced Thursday that it would begin its largest military exercise in decades next week, involving 90,000 troops and testing the allies’ ability over months to engage in a conflict with an adversary like Russia.
Steadfast Defender 2024 will run to late May and involve units from all 31 member countries of the western military alliance plus candidate-member Sweden, United States General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told journalists.
The exercise, composed of a series of smaller individual drills, will span from North America to NATO’s eastern flank, close to the Russian border.
It will involve 50 naval vessels, 80 aircraft and over 1,100 combat vehicles.
The exercise — the biggest since the 1988 Reforger drill during the Cold War — comes as NATO overhauls its defenses in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.