Russia Hits Military-Related Warehouses as Ukraine Strikes Oil Refinery

Russia and Ukraine continue to attack each other’s critical infrastructure, with Russian oil refineries and Ukrainian military-related warehouses being hit overnight.The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an Aug. 11 Facebook post that it had hit the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk, which is near its border with Kazakhstan.The Ukrainian military said Orsknefteorgsintez is one of the largest refineries in Russia’s Orenburg Oblast. It is a key energy hub, producing around 6 million tons of oil per year, with products including gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, bitumen, and other petroleum products.“A fire was recorded. The scale of the damage is being ascertained,” the statement said.“The Ukrainian Defense Forces will continue to systematically implement measures aimed at stopping the armed aggression of the Russian Federation,” the military said.Ukraine has been ramping up its long-range combat drone attacks on Russian energy and military locations in an effort to disrupt Russia’s ability to wage war.Blaze at WildberriesAlexander Gusev, the governor of the Russian Voronezh region, said in an Aug. 11 post on Telegram that air defense forces detected and destroyed 15 drones over the region, but that falling debris had struck and killed a 49-year-old man.Falling debris also triggered a fire at one of the warehouses of Wildberries—Russia’s answer to Amazon.The site had been evacuated, and later the blaze was extinguished, Wildberries said.Wildberries has also been a target of Ukraine. Kyiv accused the company of supplying Moscow’s military with components for weaponry, such as drones.The Kremlin has denied claims that ​Wildberries handles military supplies.On Aug. 7, Wildberries reported that one of its logistics ​centers had caught fire after ​an attack on Russia’s fourth-largest city, Yekaterinburg, 870 ⁠miles east of Moscow.The ​governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast, where Yekaterinburg is located, said in a Telegram ​post on Friday that Russian forces had shot down eight drones over ⁠the region overnight, with three of them crashing into the roof of a logistics center.At least ​20 ​of the company’s warehouses ⁠have been attacked since July 18.Russia Hits Military-Related WarehousesMeanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Aug. 11 that its forces had conducted strikes overnight on military-related logistics centers in Kyiv and hit a major steel works in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.The ministry said in a Telegram post that in the Ukrainian capital, they had struck the Nova Poshta sorting facility, which distributes and stores dual-use goods, including components for the production of medium- and long-range drones, as well as systems for electronic warfare and robotics.They also said they hit the Kyiv-3 transport and logistics center, which stores attack drones.In Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces hit and damaged the PJSC Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, the Russian ministry said.According to the statement, the plant manufactures sheet metal products used for, among other purposes, armor for military vehicles and body armor plates.Strike Kills 7 WorkersPJSC Zaporizhstal is part of the Metinvest Group, which said in a statement that the attack on the plant in Ukraine claimed the lives of seven employees and injured 21 others.The company said a ballistic missile struck just as employees were making their way to a shelter after the air-raid siren had sounded.“This is not the first time that Metinvest has had to deal with destruction and recovery following attacks,” the company said in an Aug. 11 statement. “But there is one thing we can never get used to: the loss of human life.”Both Moscow and Kyiv deny having deliberately targeted civilians.The company said that as a result of the attack, energy facilities and infrastructure were damaged, as well as facilities used in coke and blast furnace production.Steel production has been brought to a halt as a result, while other production is operating at reduced capacity, Metinvest said.Reuters contributed to this report.