A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil tanker and port facilities in the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse. The strike risks disrupting key fuel exports and escalates tensions in the ongoing conflict.
An oil tanker and port facilities in the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse were damaged and set ablaze overnight as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack, authorities in the southern region of Krasnodar said on Sunday.
“In the port of Tuapse, fragments of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) fell on an oil tanker, damaging the deck superstructure,” the administration said on the Telegram messaging app.
“A fire broke out on the vessel. The crew were evacuated.”
The Tuapse port is home to the Tuapse Black Sea oil terminal and the Rosneft-controlled Tuapse oil refinery, which have been targeted by Ukrainian drones several times this year.
The terminal is a key southern outlet for Russia’s crude and refined products to reach international markets, so any disruption there can ripple through export flows.
Kyiv has intensified strikes on Russian refineries, depots and pipelines in recent months to strain fuel supplies, disrupt military logistics and raise wartime costs, a campaign it says is retaliation for Russian attacks on the Ukrainian power grid.
The Krasnodar administration said that the port’s buildings and other infrastructure were also damaged.
Falling drone debris also damaged an apartment building in the village of Sosnovyi, just outside Tuapse. There were no injuries reported, it said. There was also some minor damage to the railway station in Tuapse, it added.
