Five dead, dozens injured in Donetsk region of Ukraine as Russia reports further advances

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Sunday stated that it targeted an oil storage facility in southern Russia that supplies the Kremlin’s troops during Russian attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where Moscow stated additional gains, causing the death of five civilians and injuring 15 others.

Ukraine’s General Staff announced that Kyiv’s security services conducted a drone strike in Russia’s southern Kursk region that morning on an oil storage facility used by the Russian military. The depot contains 11 tanks with a total capacity of 7,000 cubic meters (about 247,202 cubic feet), resulting in “significant explosions and a fire … likely involving containers with oil products.”

“The defense forces are taking all necessary actions to diminish the military and economic capabilities of the Russian occupiers and compel the Russian Federation to cease its armed aggression against Ukraine,” the statement added.

Earlier on Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that seven Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian territory. A regional official mentioned that a drone strike ignited the oil storage facility in the Kursk province. Firefighters were working to extinguish the fire on Sunday morning after three fuel tanks caught fire, according to acting regional Gov. Alexey Smirnov. Smirnov confirmed that no injuries occurred.

The Kursk region is situated on the border with Ukraine’s Sumy province, where Ukraine has recently targeted various sites, including oil storage facilities and other military infrastructure, within Russian territory, using drones and other weaponry. Ukrainian officials have been urging Western allies to authorize the use of their advanced and more sophisticated weapons to target more strategic locations within Russian territory.

Also on Sunday, Russian troops continued to gain territory in Ukraine’s conflict-ridden eastern Donetsk province as they advanced westward toward the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that its forces had seized control of two neighboring villages approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Pokrovsk, namely Prohres and Yevhenivka. The previous day, Moscow declared the capture of the nearby village of Lozuvatske, one of nearly a dozen villages it claims to have taken in the province this month.

Russia initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, resulting in millions of people fleeing to neighboring nations. Gaining control of all of Donetsk, which is part of the country’s industrial core and has been heavily affected by years of conflict, is one of the Kremlin’s primary objectives in the war.

Five civilians lost their lives and 15 others sustained injuries following Russian attacks in the Donetsk region on Saturday and overnight, according to local Gov. Vadym Filashkin’s report on Telegram Sunday. Subsequently, Ukrainian officials mentioned that Russian bombardment caused additional civilian casualties, including children, in the eastern and southern regions.

Following strikes by Moscow’s forces on Sunday, at least eight civilians, including a 10-year-old and two teenagers, were wounded in a village in Ukraine’s southern Kherson province, as reported by local official Roman Mrochko.