April 21 (Reuters) – Ukrainian drones struck an oil-pumping and dispatch facility in Russia’s Samara region overnight, an official from Ukraine’s SBU security service said on Tuesday.
The attack targeted the facility in the village of Prosvet, the official said. The dispatching station is a part of the Soviet-era Druzhba oil pipeline supply chain.
The attack caused a fire and, according to preliminary data, damaged five tanks containing crude oil, each with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres (5.3 million gallons), the official said. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The attack came as Hungary and Slovakia wait for Russian oil transit via the pipeline that also crosses Ukraine to be restored.
The supplies were halted after a Russian attack severely damaged the pipeline in January, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview aired on Monday that the pipeline will be ready to operate by the end of April after restoration works are finished.
The Samara region governor said that Ukraine attempted to strike an industrial facility and reported drones falling at several sites. He did not name the facility.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Anna Pruchnicka, Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Tomasz Janowski)
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