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UKRAINE launched a kamikaze drone onslaught at Russia overnight, sparking an enormous fire in a humiliating blow for tyrant Vladimir Putin.
Kyiv’s forces struck a crucial Russian oil depot not far from the frontline as residents reported hearing five ferocious explosions.
The 2am strike on Azov port in Russia’s Rostov region ignited fires in multiple storage tanks.
Videos showed huge flames and plumes of black smoke pour from the oil hub facility around ten miles from the Azov Sea.
The impressive hit came just hours before Putin is due to touch down in North Korea for his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years.
He is set to meet with fellow dictator Kim Jong Un after thanking North Korea for its support over his brutal and illegal war in Ukraine.
The pair are set to reinforce their already strong ties after vowing to forge a “New World Order”.
In January Kim sent delegates to Moscow for a meeting to reinforce relations with Russia following the North Korean leader’s own trip there in September last year.
North Korea said it had agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia as both countries ramped up their united front against the United States.
In September the pair vowed to fight a “sacred” battle against the West and said they would triumph against “evil” after a two-hour meeting.
The strike in Azov proved another failure by Russian air defences to fend off Ukraine’s kamikaze drones.
Intense fires sparked by the hit covered some 53,820 square feet and was the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks hitting Russia’s oil refining and storage facilities.
They aim to attack Putin’s war effort and mark a retaliation for attacks on Kyiv’s energy hubs.
More than 200 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the blaze, but it kept burning.
A fire train was later dispatched to the scene.
Putin’s crony governor in the region, Vasily Golubev, said there were no casualties.
He said: “In Azov, oil storage tanks caught fire due to a UAV attack.”
Ukrainian Government advisor Anton Gerashchenko shared footage on X of Russian flags and posters of bloodthirsty despot Putin strung up along North Korea’s motorways.