MOSCOW—Over 1,000 residents have been evacuated due to a fire at a large oil terminal in Russian-annexed Crimea, a local official said Tuesday, after Ukraine claimed it had struck the depot.
Kyiv has ramped up strikes targeting Russia’s energy sector in recent months, aiming to dent revenues used by Moscow to fund its invasion, now grinding through its third year.
Ukraine said Monday its forces had carried out a “successful strike” on an offshore oil terminal overnight in Feodosia.
Russian-installed authorities in Crimea then said a fire had broken out at the depot in the Black Sea port town of some 70,000 people and that there were no casualties.
Russia has not said there was a Ukrainian strike on the terminal.
“To ensure the safety of people living near the scene of the emergency situation, 1,047 people have been temporarily evacuated to shelters,” the Russian-appointed mayor of the town of Feodosia, Igor Tkachenko, wrote on Telegram.
On Monday, the fire caused road and train closures, but the Russian consumer safety watchdog said Monday initial checks did not find excess levels of air pollution.
The watchdog said the fire was raging at the Sea Oil Terminal, whose website says it “stores fuel in case of emergency situations and ensures Crimea’s energy security.”
