Oil Tanker Catches Fire After Ukrainian Drone Strike On Russia’s Black Sea Oil Terminal

A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia’s key Black Sea oil ports, Tuapse, early on Sunday, damaging two foreign vessels and parts of the terminal infrastructure.

Regional authorities in Krasnodar confirmed that the attack damaged two foreign civilian ships at the Tuapse port, located on Russia’s southern coast. They reported no casualties among the crews but said that several port buildings and terminal infrastructure were damaged. Fires caused by the strike were later extinguished.

Ukraine’s General Staff stated that its forces had targeted the infrastructure of the Tuapse oil refinery. A representative from Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, said that five drones had struck the oil terminal, damaging an oil tanker, loading facilities, and nearby port structures.

Footage circulated on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels appeared to show a tanker and part of the terminal on fire at night. The Tuapse facility is home to the Black Sea oil terminal and a refinery controlled by Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company.

The plant, which processes around 240,000 barrels of oil per day, produces naphtha, fuel oil, vacuum gas oil and high-sulphur diesel, mainly for export to China, Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey. The refinery has been targeted multiple times this year. It remains unclear whether the terminal was operational after the latest strike.

Video Credits: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/YouTube

Russia’s Defence Ministry reported that its air defence systems destroyed a total of 283 Ukrainian drones on Sunday
Debris from the attack was found in five nearby settlements, damaging windows in several homes and apartment buildings. The local railway station also sustained minor damage, though no injuries were reported.

The attack prompted temporary closures of several airports in southern and western Russia for safety reasons, according to Rosaviatsiya, the country’s aviation authority.

Kyiv has maintained that its drone strikes on Russian energy facilities are in retaliation for Moscow’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure. Russian forces have been targeting power and heating systems across Ukraine, claiming these facilities support the country’s war effort.

Ukrainian authorities reported that around 60,000 people were left without electricity in the frontline Zaporizhzhia region following overnight Russian airstrikes. Two people were also killed in the southern region of Odesa.

Reference: Reuters

Source: Maritime Shipping News