Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Ukraine’s military launched a drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar Krai overnight on May 13, striking oil shipping infrastructure in the village of Volna, Russian Telegram media channels reported.
Videos posted to social media show large plumes of smoke rising from a nearby port, various channels reported.
In a separate post on Telegram, the Krasnodar Krai Operational Headquarters reported a fire in “one of the premises” in Volna, saying that one person was injured in the Ukrainian drone attack.
NASA’s fire monitoring system, FIRMS, appeared to corroborate officials’ claims, with a fire reported at an oil storage facility near the port, specifically at a terminal called Tammanneftogaz, which transfers oil and gas from Russian pipelines onto tankers traveling through the Black Sea for export to global markets.
Ukraine’s military has not yet commented on the reported attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged a raft of overnight attacks, but did not mention any specific sites. The ministry did, however, immediately switch to celebrating the 243rd anniversary of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian drones have increasingly targeted Russian oil and gas infrastructure in recent weeks, as part of a broader campaign to disrupt Moscow’s energy revenues, a key source of funding for the Kremlin’s war effort.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has at times referred to the strikes in characteristically tongue-in-cheek remarks.
Between mid-April and early May, Tuapse, a town in Krasnodar Krai and home to one of the largest oil refineries and export terminals on the Black Sea coast, had been systematically targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones.
Multi-day fires contributed to worsening air quality and significant environmental pollution, emerging as a stark symbol of the Kremlin’s limited control over its airspace ahead of Victory Day festivities.
The environmental fallout — including airborne petroleum byproducts and oil spills on city streets — has made the once attractive tourist destination unsafe for visitors, though Russian President Vladimir Putin has downplayed the threat to Tuapse.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil infrastructure reached a four-month high in April, with at least 21 attacks on refineries, pipelines, and oil assets at sea recorded.
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