Ukraine’s drone strike ignites fire at Russian oil depot

SOCHI: A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil storage facility in Sochi, Russia, early Sunday, according to regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev on the Telegram messaging platform. Over 120 firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze.

The fire broke out in a 2,000-cubic-metre (approximately 70,000 cubic feet) fuel tank, located in Russia’s Krasnodar region along the Black Sea, as reported by the RIA news agency citing emergency services.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated in its daily Telegram update that air defense systems intercepted 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one in the Krasnodar area and 60 over the Black Sea. The ministry typically only reports the number of drones shot down, not the total number launched by Ukraine.

Russia’s civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, temporarily suspended air traffic at Sochi airport as a safety precaution but announced on Telegram that flights resumed by 0200 GMT on Sunday.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the details of these events, and there has been no immediate response from Ukrainian officials.

Governor Kondratyev said the incident took place in Sochi’s Adler district, a coastal area and resort zone. The strike marks another Ukrainian attempt to damage infrastructure within Russian territory—targets Kyiv views as critical to Moscow’s war capabilities.

Last month, a drone strike in the same Adler district killed a woman, though attacks on Sochi—host of the 2014 Winter Olympics—have been relatively rare since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The Krasnodar region also houses the Ilsky refinery near the city of Krasnodar, a significant oil processing facility in southern Russia and a recurring target of Ukrainian drone operations.

Separately on Sunday, the governor of Russia’s Voronezh region said four people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone attack that caused multiple fires. Meanwhile, Russian forces carried out a missile strike on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, according to the city’s military administration.

The Russian defence ministry added that 18 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Voronezh, which shares a border with Ukraine.

Also read: Kyiv under Russian missile attack