Donetsk, Nov 11 - DAN. Ukrainian armed formations purposefully tried to create a man-made disaster by attacking an oil terminal in Donetsk’s Kirovsky district, Donetsk People’s Republic Head Denis Pushilin said in an interview with domestic and foreign media outlets on Thursday.
“Ukrainian forces tried to blast the oil terminal in the Kirovsky district,” Pushilin said. “If they had succeeded, they would have reached certain goals. We are grateful to our firefighters who risked their lives to extinguish the flames in time.”
“It was a deliberate attempt to create a man-made disaster. It’s difficult to imagine the consequences if oil tanks had begun to explode at the oil depot; yet Ukraine is taking such steps,” he said.
The oil terminal in Donetsk came under Ukrainian army attack for the first time in September. A fire broke out when a piece of ordnance hit the roof of a fuel oil tank. The explosive device was reportedly dropped by a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle. The fire lasted several hours destroying some 1,300 tons of fuel.
In late October, Ukrainian armed formations used an UAV in another attempt to blast the oil depot. The attack drone fell on a fuel oil tank but did not immediately detonate. It exploded at a preset time during defusing efforts without causing casualties or large damage. *jk