Ukraine attacked an oil depot near a critical military airfield in southern Russia on Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said, the latest strike in a campaign to inflict pain deep inside the country even as Kyiv’s forces are losing ground at home on the battlefield.
The military said it had struck the Kristall oil storage facility in Engels, around 300 miles from the border between the two countries. It said the depot supplied fuel to the Engels airfield, which it has said is a staging ground for Russia’s long-running attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and which hosts some of Russia’s long-range, nuclear-capable bombers.
A Russian official wrote on the Telegram messaging app that a “massive” drone attack had targeted Engels. Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov region, said that air defenses had intercepted the drones but that falling debris had hit an “industrial facility” and ignited a fire.
Two firefighters died battling the blaze, Mr. Busargin said around 10 hours later, as the flames still raged and he declared a state of emergency.
A video circulating on Telegram and verified by The New York Times showed several structures on fire at the Kristall facility, which is roughly five miles from the Engels airfield. Other videos verified by The Times showed what appeared to be multiple explosions and huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky.
Kyiv has repeatedly targeted the airfield in trying to limit the strikes on Ukraine’s energy system, which have plunged cities into darkness, battering the Ukrainian grid and forcing officials to scramble for alternative power options.
The latest attack came as Ukrainian forces were pressing what appeared to be a renewed offensive in the Kursk region in western Russia. Both sides have reported fierce fighting over the past few days in Kursk, where Ukrainian troops seized about 500 square miles of territory in a surprise cross-border incursion last summer.
Russia has since regained roughly half of the territory it lost. Analysts have said the renewed offensive appears to be Ukraine’s attempt to regain momentum and project strength before President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration.
Mr. Trump has vowed to bring the war to a quick end, without saying how. That has spurred concerns that his administration might cut off military aid to Ukraine. The Biden administration has been rushing to get additional assistance to Kyiv before Mr. Trump takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.
Two senior U.S. defense officials said that the Biden administration was set to announce a “substantial” final aid package for Ukraine on Thursday while Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III is in Germany for talks with a coalition of Kyiv’s backers.
It will be Mr. Austin’s 25th — and last — meeting with the group, which includes about 50 countries and which he formed to discuss Ukraine’s security needs after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The meeting “will focus on the need to ensure continued delivery of key capabilities including air defense systems, artillery munitions and armored vehicles,” according to the Pentagon.
When asked on Wednesday whether there was concern about the future of the coalition once Mr. Trump takes office, the two senior defense officials told reporters traveling with Mr. Austin that they were confident European allies would carry on the work — regardless of whether the new U.S. administration decreased its support.
While the scale of the new Kursk offensive remains unclear, military analysts have suggested that it could also be an attempt to force Russia to divert troops away from the front lines of eastern Ukraine, where they have been steadily wearing down Kyiv’s defenses to seize new ground.
On Monday, Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had captured Kurakhove, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine, after months of heavy fighting.
Sanjana Varghese, John Ismay and Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed reporting.
