A massive explosion has ripped through a Russian oil storage facility after it was hit in another suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack.
The attack, 170 miles behind Russian lines, sent smoke thousands of feet into the air near to Vladimir Putin’s prized bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which he annexed in 2014.
The attack comes just days after Ukrainian forces were believed to have hit an oil depot in Crimea itself.
The inferno at the port of Taman covered almost 13,000 square feet and almost 85 firefighters were tackling the blaze.
One witness said the attack came at 2am after “there was a sound of hissing in the air, and a drone trace in the sky”.
The strike was only six miles from the Kerch Bridge built by linking Russia’s Krasnodar region to Crimea.
Pro-Kremlin Russian news outlet Readovka said a drone strike was suspected – despite the site being some 170 miles from the nearest Ukraine-held territory.
Eyewitnesses told Readovka they heard two explosions during the night, and then the fire started.
Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said: “A tank with oil products caught fire.
“The fire was assigned the highest rank of difficulty. According to preliminary information, there are no victims or injured.”
The attack is the latest in a rising tide of apparent strikes by Ukraine on Russian territory in the war between the two countries.
Kyiv is suspected of being behind a mass drone attack on a Russian military air base in the Bryansk region.
Two drones were shot down using small arms but two exploded on the airfield, with one damaging a giant ‘Ruslan’ An-124 transport plane and putting it out of service, according to Russian media reports.
In another attack, a blast rocked a secret training base of the FSB security service near Simferopol, the capital of Crimea.
Black smoke was seen rising from the facility near Skilne, a short distance from Simferopol airport.
The site is reportedly used by Russian border guards, part of the FSB, and crucial to Putin’s illegal control of a region.
Meanwhile, a freight train made up of 20 oil tanker carriages derailed, also in the Bryansk region, the second track explosion in two ways.
Ukrainian drones have already crashed near Moscow while Kyiv has been suspected of behind sabotage attacks carried out near the city.
These include explosions and fires at shopping malls as well as energy facilities.
Kyiv plotted an audacious attack on Moscow to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, leaked spy documents have revealed.
The mass strikes were ultimately called off after the United States intervened and warned Kyiv its plan could lead to a nuclear war.
Ukraine never publicly claims responsibility for attacks in Russia or on Russian-controlled territory.
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