Missiles strike oil facilty in Russian-held Ukrainian town

Moscow, May 21: Rocket attacks on a town in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine have caused a fuel depot to catch fire, according to the occupation authorities.

"As a result of a missile strike with cluster munitions on Sverdlovsk, a fuel and lubricants storage facility was damaged," wrote Leonid Pasechnik, the head of pro-Russian separatists forces in the Luhansk region, on Monday on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine renamed the small town of Sverdlovsk, which has been occupied by Russian forces since 2014, and Dovzhansk in 2016.

According to Ukrainian media, a Russian military base was also hit in the missile attack.

Videos on social networks show heavy clouds of smoke, but also a burning multi-storey barracks-style building.

The Russian authorities on the ground have not officially released any information on casualties or injuries.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian military invasion for more than two years.

Kiev has recently fired missiles at oil processing plants and fuel depots in addition to purely military targets to hamper the Russian military's logistics.