A chat group is to be set up in the Mykolaiv region for petrol station owners to warn them about enemy drones

The aftermath of the attack on a petrol station on the Odesa motorway near Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, has announced that a special chat group will be set up in the region for petrol station owners. Through this group, they will be promptly informed of any threat of attacks by Russian drones.

He announced this in a video message published on 3 July on his Telegram channel, according to NikVesti.

According to Vitalii Kim, Russian troops have recently been attacking private petrol stations with increasing frequency.

«The enemy has now identified petrol stations as one of its targets. They are taking revenge because the Ukrainian Defence Forces are striking their fuel infrastructure and targeting private petrol stations. We understand that strikes on private petrol stations do not affect logistics, but they are doing this for show,» he said.

The head of the Regional Military Administration explained that the chat group set up will enable petrol station owners to be promptly informed of the direction of enemy drones. If there is a threat of an attack on a specific petrol station, its staff will be able to temporarily suspend operations, stop serving customers and evacuate people to a safe place.

«That is why we will set up a chat group with all petrol station owners, so that they can see the direction in which the threat is flying and can instruct their stations to suspend operations and stop serving customers. So that they can evacuate people from the petrol station premises if we see that a Shahed is heading straight for it. This will be implemented in the very near future. Petrol station owners, please get in touch,» added Vitalii Kim.

We would like to remind you that on 2 July, in the Mykolaiv district, a Russian Shahed drone struck a petrol station in the Kostiantynivka community. A 45-year-old man was killed in the attack. Two other men, aged 33 and 44, were injured. One of them was hospitalised in a serious but stable condition, whilst the other was in a moderately serious condition. The strike completely destroyed the petrol station building and three cars.