Ukrainian special forces behind drone attack on Russia's Slavyansk refinery

Kiev: The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), together with the Special Operations Forces and the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, attacked the Slavyansk-on-Kuban oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai with drones on the intervening night of March 16 to 17, said a media source in the SSU.

The source indicated that the attack was successful as a large-scale fire was reported near the atmospheric distillation towers, which were the primary targets, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The source noted that the SSU drones have recently successfully struck 12 oil refineries in Russia.

"Thanks to the SSU, the (Russian) acronym for 'refinery', NPZ, now stands for 'New Plant Zapped'."

On the intervening night of March 16 to 17, residents of Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia's Krasnodar Krai reported explosions and a fire at the city's oil refinery.

The Russian Army confirmed the drone attack but claimed that "the drones had been destroyed", although the video posted online revealed UAV strikes.