Ukrainian Defense Forces have conducted a strike, resulting in a fire, on an oil depot in Rovenky, a city in the Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast.
Recently, Ukraine has intensified its campaign against Russian fuel and oil storage facilities crucial for fueling Russian military vehicles, aircraft, and equipment.
The oil depot in Rovenky holds strategic importance due to its location, as it serves as a key hub for supplying Russian military operations in eastern Ukraine.
The town of Rovenky has been under Russian occupation since 2014, and lies over 110 km from Ukraine’s current front lines. Since 2014, Russia has been actively using the local oil depot located next to the railway to store POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) for its troops deployed and stationed in occupied Luhansk Oblast.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with other components of the Defense Forces, carried out the operation, according to the Ukrainian Army’s General Staff.
The NASA Firms service, which monitors fires globally, confirmed a fire in the northeastern outskirts of Rovenky.
A Russian Telegram channel, “Intsydent Luhansk,” reported that 10 Ukrainian Armed Forces drones attacked an oil depot in Rovenky, with Russia intercepting eight of them. However, two drones made it through, causing a fuel tank to catch fire. The channel also claimed that Ukrainian forces made subsequent attempts to shell the facility while firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze.
The photos shared by Intsydent Luhansk allegedly show the debris of drones at the Rovenky oil depot.
This is not the first time the Rovenky oil depot has been targeted.
In May 2024, Ukrainian forces struck the facility presumably by ATACMS missiles, killing at least one person and injuring six others.
On 24 April 2023, an alleged Ukrainian UAV attack destroyed a fuel storage tank in Rovenky.
On 1 July 2022, a missile strike destroyed an industrial facility in the area of the oil depot.
On 26 February 2022, 4 days into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine struck the oil depot with the Tochka-U missile.
Related:
- Fuel storage tank destroyed in alleged Ukrainian UAV attack on oil depot 100 km behind the lines
- Key oil depot hit in occupied Luhansk’s Rovenky
- Two Russian oil depots on fire in Russia’s Tambov Oblast and Adygea after drone strikes (video)
- Russian ammunition depot struck in occupied Luhansk’s Sorokyne
