On the night of February 19, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the city of Velikiye Luki in Russia’s Pskov region, regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov said. According to him, one of the fuel storage tanks caught fire. Preliminary reports indicate that no one was injured.
According to Astra, after an air raid alert was declared, employees of the oil depot and nearby enterprises were evacuated. The facility’s storage tanks were reportedly protected by a special net, but eyewitnesses said several drones pierced the protection and struck the site.
The Velikiye Luki oil depot belongs to Pskovnefteprodukt LLC. It stores diesel fuel, gasoline, and other petroleum products distributed to the region’s network of gas stations, businesses, and transport companies. The depot had previously been targeted by Ukrainian drones in April 2024, though it did not sustain significant damage at that time.
Earlier this week, on February 17, drones struck a storage tank at an oil depot in the settlement of Volna in Russia’s Krasnodar region, where the fire covered more than 1,200 square meters. On January 23, a Rosneft oil depot in Penza was hit, with firefighters battling the blaze for two days. On January 10, an oil depot in Russia’s Volgograd region was also attacked, resulting in a fire.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine began systematically striking oil depots and oil refineries starting in August 2025. In total, Ukrainian forces carried out around 160 successful attacks last year, according to Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine.
He said the highest number of targets was hit in September and October. During that period, six oil refineries, two oil terminals, three oil depots, and nine oil pumping stations were attacked.
