Oil transportation from Kazakhstan to global markets through the Tengiz–Novorossiysk pipeline has been reduced on Monday as a drone strike hit a pumping station in southern Russia.

The strike comes a day before U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia for talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The operator, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), said drones struck the Kropotkinskaya station in the southern Krasnodar region, where work was halted to investigate the damage.

“The strike on the Kropotkinskaya facility has been carried out by seven unmanned aerial vehicles that were filled with metal striking elements in addition to explosives”, CPC said in a statement, without identifying the origin of the drones.

Ukranian media referring to sources in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported about "successful" drone attack hitting key oil facilities - the Ilsky Oil Refinery and the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station.

“Russian oil refineries and pumping stations are entirely legitimate targets. They not only support Russia’s military by supplying fuel to enemy forces but also play a crucial role in financing the war through oil profits. Therefore, drone visits to these facilities will continue,” the SBU source stated.

At least 20 explosions were heard in the vicinity of the refinery, the official said.

Copied