Kyiv Says Its Drones Struck Russian Kamikaze Drone Training Center, 3 Oil Refineries

The Ukrainian military and intelligence reported that they struck three Russian oil refineries and a training ground for the Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones with their own attack drones in the early morning hours of Friday, June 21.

The military's attack was conducted with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a Kyiv Post intelligence source said.

The kamikaze drone training ground hit was at Russia's 167th Training Center in Yeisk, in the Krasnodar region, the source in the SBU said.

The site hit houses a warehouse of Iranian drones, whose operators live in a nearby barracks. A series of explosions followed by detonations was recorded.

Subsequently, Ukrainian military and SBU drones struck three refineries in southern Russia: Afipsky, Ilsky, and Krasnodarsky.

These are key facilities producing fuel oil for Black Sea Fleet ships. Their destruction will significantly complicate the logistics of fuel oil supply, making it more expensive and time-consuming, the intelligence source said.

"The SBU continues the active summer season of 'bavovna' (cotton)," the source said, with "cotton" being used as a term to describe the explosions. "Almost every night, 'blooms' occur at military facilities and enterprises that are part of the Russian military-industrial complex and support the war against Ukraine. We predict that this season will be very hot." 

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine launched over 114 drones across Russian regions with at least one person killed in the attacks.

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"Russian anti-aerial defense systems intercepted and destroyed 70 drones over Crimea and the Black Sea, 43 drones over the Krasnodar region and one drone over Volgograd," the defense ministry said in a statement.

It also claimed that in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the naval aviation forces of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed six unmanned Ukrainian Navy boats. Kyiv Post couldn't verify the claim.

In Krasnodar, a heating station employee was killed when a drone struck the facility near the Yuzhny train station, according to Regional Governor Venyamin Kondratyev on Telegram.

Several administrative buildings at an oil refinery were also damaged in Severski district, he said.

The operational headquarters of Krasnodar reported drone attacks in the Temryuksky, Yeisk, and Seversky districts. The Yuzhny bus station building sustained damage, and four people were reported injured.

Two additional injuries were reported at the Ilyinsky Oil Refinery, where a fire broke out following the drone attack.

This attack follows a strike the day before, where SBU drones targeted fuel and lubricant warehouses at Tambovnefteprodukt and the Enemskaya oil depot of LUKOIL-Yugnefteprodukt in the Tambov region and the Republic of Adygea.

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian territory, specifically targeting energy facilities.

Russian missile and drone strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure have severely damaged the country's electricity generation capacity, leading Kyiv to implement rotating blackouts and import electricity from the European Union.