Oil processing plant in Russia's Bashkiria was attacked by a drone, says regional head

Oil processing plant in Russia's Bashkiria was attacked by a drone, says regional head

Russia's Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil processing, petrochemical and fertiliser complex located in the Bashkiria region was attacked by a drone but is functioning as usual, Radiy Khabirov, the region's head, said on his Telegram channel on Thursday.

The state RIA news agency, citing emergency services, said the drone attack had damaged a pumping station building at the plant, one of Russia's largest, but that nobody had been injured.

Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on oil processing facilities in Russia since the start of the year. Moscow says the attacks amount to terrorism and has launched what it said are revenge strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure in response.

Ukraine says the oil facilities are legitimate targets which aid Russia's military effort.

Earlier on Thursday, a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire and damaged several storage tanks at a fuel depot in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, according to local officials.