Ukraine hits strategic Russian oil hub 1,500 km behind frontlines Security Service Alpha behind attack

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said its drones struck a major Russian oil pumping station deep inside Russian territory overnight, causing what it described as a large-scale fire at the facility.

According to an official SBU statement, specialists from the agency’s Alpha special operations centre carried out an operation targeting the Perm linear production and dispatch station, located more than 1,500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

The facility belongs to Russian state pipeline operator Transneft and is considered a strategically important hub in Russia’s main oil transportation network. The station distributes crude oil in four directions, including to the Perm oil refinery, the SBU said.

Ukrainian authorities said the drone strike triggered a major fire at the oil pumping station, with preliminary reports indicating that nearly all oil storage tanks at the site were burning.

Acting SBU chief Yevhen Khmara said the agency was continuing efforts to weaken Russia’s export capacity and undermine the economic resources used to finance Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

“Strikes on oil logistics create shortages of resources for Russia’s military-industrial complex, disrupt fuel supply chains for the army and force the enemy to spend significant resources on restoring and protecting oil infrastructure,” he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev