Russian attacks kill four as Ukraine continues to target oil infrastructure 

Russian forces have killed four people, including a teenager, in aerial bomb strikes on the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, as it steps up its campaign against Russian oil infrastructure and tankers.

Seven bombs struck residential buildings, a shop and private homes in Kramatorsk on Friday, injuring at least nine others, regional governor Vadym Filashkin posted on the messaging app Telegram.

Ukraine’s military said it hit two major Russian oil refineries, an oil terminal and a depot, as well as 10 tankers in the Sea of Azov.

Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, one of the largest in Russia’s south, caught fire and the Ust-Luga oil refining ‌‌complex in the Leningrad region was also struck, the general staff said on Telegram. Both are frequent targets of Ukrainian attacks.

An oil terminal and an oil depot in the Rostov region were attacked, causing explosions ⁠⁠and fire, according to the statement.

Robert Brovdi, Ukraine’s drone forces commander, said 10 tankers ‌‌in the Sea of Azov were attacked on Friday, among almost 50 fuel-carrying vessels damaged this week as Kyiv aims ‌‌to limit ‌‌fuel supplies for enemy troops and isolate Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014.

Targeting oil tankers appears to be a new strategy by Ukraine, Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine reported from Kyiv.

“These ones in particular, according to Ukraine, refill, resupply the Russian-controlled peninsula of Crimea,” she said.

“It also says that these tankers are part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which is a term used to describe unmarked ships that carry what Ukraine says is illegal oil, meaning that these are sanctioned vessels,” MacAlpine said.

This is part of what Ukraine is calling “a logistics lockdown”, hitting highways, railways and any sort of logistical artery that feeds the peninsula, she explained.

Russia’s deputy prime minister said on Friday that Ukrainian drone strikes on energy infrastructure are causing fuel shortages.

Speaking to journalists in Tver region, northwest of Moscow, Novak said: “The shortage is due to obvious reasons, because our oil refineries are partially out of order for repairs due to [Ukrainian drone] arrivals”.

Saying that authorities are doing everything possible to strengthen the security of oil refineries and ensure their production capacity is fully utilised, Novak added that Moscow’s temporary ban on gasoline and diesel fuel exports is aimed at “stabilising the situation”.

Russia currently has sufficient fuel processing capacity, he said, adding that authorities are seeking to ensure additional fuel deliveries to Russian regions.

Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure had contributed to fuel shortages, but insisted it was “not critical”.

Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said that more than 50 million people, almost a third of Russia’s population, have been affected by the fuel crisis.