Russian oil refinery in Tuapse ablaze again after latest drone strike
A fresh wave of drone strikes targeted the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai overnight into Tuesday, reigniting fires at the facility just days after previous blazes were contained, according to the regional operational headquarters.
Local authorities stated that the fire broke out after "falling drone debris" struck the facility. Residents in the Black Sea port city reported hearing more than a dozen explosions overnight.
No casualties were reported.
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View in Telegram.According to an analysis by the independent Russian outlet Astra, the strike appeared to target a tank farm near the refinery's ELOU-AVT-12 primary processing unit.
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View in Telegram.This marks the third time the Tuapse refinery has been hit by Ukrainian drones in April. A previous attack on April 20 occurred only a day after emergency services had extinguished a fire from an initial strike on April 16.
That second fire was not fully suppressed until April 24, requiring nearly 300 firefighters and 77 pieces of equipment to contain the blaze.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine previously confirmed successful hits on the facility's reservoir parks during the earlier raids.
The repeated strikes have taken a significant environmental toll on the region. Following the April 20 attack, a massive 10,000-square-meter oil slick was reported in the Black Sea, and local residents documented "oil rain"—a phenomenon where soot and unburned petroleum products mixed with precipitation.