Fire at Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery put out, officials say

A fire caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea Tuapse oil refinery has been put out, officials said on Monday.

The oil refinery, owned by oil major Rosneft, was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, officials from the Krasnodar
region said on Monday.

Debris from a drone that was shot down by Russia sparked a fire at the refinery, which has since been contained, the regional administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

There were no casualties, it added.

It was not immediately clear if the refinery was operational or the extent of the damage it had sustained.

Russia’s defense ministry earlier said its air defense systems destroyed 75 drones launched by Ukraine, including eight near the Tuapse.

The Tuapse refinery has been a target of several Ukrainian air attacks since the start of the war that Russia launched against its smaller neighbor in 2022.

Russia’s SHOT and Mash Telegram news channels reported that a series of blasts were heard near the refinery early Monday.

Russian officials rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.

Earlier, the defense ministry said 47 drones were downed over the Rostov region in Russia’s southwest, 17 over the waters of the Black and Azov seas, eight over the Krasnodar region, where Tuapse is located, and single drones over the Belgorod, Voronezh and Smolensk region.

The ministry did not say whether its defense systems destroyed the drones.

Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region, said on Telegram that no one was injured as a result of the attack and there was no serious damage detected.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has often said that the attacks on Russia’s military, energy and transport infrastructure are in response to Russia’s continuous attacks on Ukraine’s territory.