Ukraine’s General Staff confirms February 20 strike on Russian oil pumping station in Kuban

The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff reported this on Saturday, February 22.

According to the statement, units of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in coordination with other components of the Defense Forces, struck the Novovelychkovska oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai on February 20. The station services the Tikhoretsk–Novorossiysk-2 pipeline.

“These elements of the oil pumping infrastructure are involved in supplying the occupying Russian army,” the General Staff noted.

To counter the Ukrainian strike, Russian forces used ground-based air defense systems and Ka-52 attack helicopters. The results of the strike are still being assessed.

Earlier, the information was reported by Ukrainian media sources Babel, Hromadske, and RBC-Ukraine.

The drone attack took place on the night of February 20. The strike targeted a 110/35/10 kV electrical substation that powers the oil pumping station. The substation caught fire, lost power, and halted oil transportation.

Russian authorities are currently assessing the damages. Ukraine had not previously reported the attack.

The Novovelichkovskaya oil pumping station is one of the key facilities for oil transportation in the Kuban region. It supplies oil to the Afipsky and Ilsky refineries.

According to sources within the Ukrainian security services, this is the eighth SBU attack on Russian energy infrastructure since the beginning of the year. These strikes cause multimillion-dollar damages and complicate logistics for the Russian military by disrupting fuel supplies.

• On the night of February 17, drones operated by Ukrainian Special Operations Forces and the SBU hit key enemy defense enterprises in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Two days later, drones attacked the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region, sparking a fire at the facility.