A Ukrainian kamikaze drone today attacked a Russian oil refinery on Wednesday morning, leading to a huge explosion that left the site in flames. A chilling video footage of the attack has emerged that shows an unmanned ariel vehicle (UAV) flying at a low height toward the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery before ploughing into the site.
The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations' regional head office's press service confirmed the fire. According to reports, the explosion could be heard at least 10 miles away. This isn't the first time Ukraine has struck a Russian oilfield in the bordering region. Last month, Ukraine blew up two other oil refineries in Russia.
Attack from Nowhere
According to reports, the strike happened 120 miles from the battle line in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov Oblast. According to Russian media, two drones were involved, one of which was shot down.
One video shows a drone flying at a low height before it came down and then hit the oil refinery. The key strategic facilities, which were about four miles from the pro-Putin puppet state Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine, could be seen engulfed in flames as black smoke flowed from them.
Russian workers, who unknowingly filmed the drone hit, were heard smiling at the sight of the drone as it hovered close to them - but they panicked and shouted repeatedly after it struck the refinery, with one saying "f*****g run away."
The workers were initially at ease as it soared close to them, but as the unmanned drone hit the oil plant and caused a massive explosion, they began to swear constantly.
One is heard saying: "It came from the Ukrainian side, didn't it?"
Another answers: "Yes, yes."
One asks: "Do we stop work?"
Another replies: "The plant is on fire. F***ing run away."
As black smoke billowed into the air, footage from the scene showed firefighters struggling to put out the fire.
Russia's Failure
It is likely that Russia's air defenses failed to locate the drone although Russian media stated that there were two drones and one was shot down. Videos also show one of the drones exploding into the plant, while another lay on the ground between two huge oil tankers.
The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations' regional head office's press service confirmed the fire. "At 09:25 am Moscow time, information was received that a fire had occurred in a heat exchanger at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery covering an area of 50 square meters," said a statement from the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The threat of the fire spreading was allegedly nonexistent. It stated that no one had been hurt. It was unknown how much harm had been done to the Russian military's oil supplies.
Despite various claims that the drone is a Bayraktar TB2, ity is quite unlikely. The PD-1 and PD-2 drones, which are smaller, were produced by UKRSPECSYSTEMS in Kyiv. At the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2014, Ukraine crowdfunded an effort to create new drones for the armed forces, and one of the results was the PD-1, or "People's Drone 1," according to a Forbes report.
Novoshakhtinsk refinery is believed the largest oil supplier in southern Russia.
It was originally controlled by offshore businesses connected to Viktor Medvedchuk, a close associate of Putin who was jailed by the Kyiv authorities, as had been indicated. It is now owned by the Research and Design Institute of Oil and Gas Peton, from Ufa.
