October 12 night, Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a strike on an oil storage facility near Rovenky, Luhansk region of Ukraine, currently occupied by russian forces. The information was confirmed by Ukraine's military General Staff and Defense Intelligence services. "Oil and oil products were stored there which were used to supply the russian army," the report reads.
The oil depot has caught fire, as evidenced by footage published on social media and statements from both russian authorities and Ukrainian officials. The scale of damage is unknown.
Read more: Satellite Photos Reveal Aftermath of Ukrainian Defense Forces' Strike on Shahed UAV Storage Base in russia's Krasnodar Region
Russian oil depot in Rovenky, Luhansk region, was targeted tonight by Ukrainian kamikaze drones. pic.twitter.com/545wh2ek1J— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) October 12, 2024
NASA wildfire detection satellites recorded fires at the location of the oil storage base after the reports of the Ukrainian strike.
Interestingly, some remnants of the weapon used in this attack were found on the site, and it was no ordinary suicide drone. Photos published by russian sources claim that the fragments shown below are parts of a Ukrainian jet drone. The characteristic features are the "flying wing" configuration, twin vertical stabilizers, black livery, and limited implementation of stealth technologies.
An aerial vehicle of similar design was only spotted once before, in June 2024, when it crashed yet remained nearly intact. According to the russians who found this drone, it was powered by a single commercial SW140B turbine, OSINT expert H I Sutton noted in his article. There is currently no verification of this data.
Quite possibly, this mysterious drone wasn't the only one involved in this attack, as more photos reveal wreckage of a different type of drone found near the burning oil depot in Rovenky, a significantly larger and closer to a conventional aircraft.
The warehouse of oil and lubricants in Rovenky has suffered multiple attacks since 2022, the last time it was targeted by Ukrainian forces was on May 10, 2024.
Read more: Pros and Cons of Rocket Drones Over Ordinary UAVs: Palianytsia vs. Shahed
