Ukraine says it struck oil depots in Russia’s Kaluga, Tula regions

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KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine on Saturday claimed a pair of attacks on oil depots in western Russia, the latest salvo in Kyiv’s air campaign against strategic targets on Russian soil.

Kyiv’s General Staff said its forces had struck storage facilities overnight in the Kaluga and Tula regions. Damages were still being assessed, it said in statements on each attack, adding that the depots supported Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

Kaluga’s regional governor, Vladislav Shapsha, said on Telegram that a fire had broken out after an industrial site was hit in the city of Lyudinovo.

He later said seven drones had been downed, with one landing in a “non-residential area”.

Tula’s regional governor, Dmitry Milyaev, said on Telegram that a fuel and lubricant tank had caught fire at a facility in the region as result of a Ukrainian drone attack.

Ukrainian forces have stepped up strikes inside Russia, primarily oil depots and military production facilities, as they struggle to hold back steady Russian advances on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has also carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities, killing four people on Saturday in a missile attack on central Kyiv.

Both sides in Russia’s almost three-year-old invasion of Ukraine have sought to improve their positions ahead of Monday’s inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he would seek a swift end to the war.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; editing by Mark Heinrich and Susan Fenton)