Russian oil tanker set ablaze amid Black Sea drone attacks

Oil storage tanks at a refinery operated by Rosneft in Tuapse, Russia. Bloomberg

A massive Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea region left an oil tanker ablaze and damaged oil-loading facilities in the port city of Tuapse — home to a key Rosneft refinery.

Russia reported 71 drones downed overnight in the Krasnodar region and around and over the Black Sea, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry. Local authorities in Tuapse and Novorossiysk, home to Russia’s largest oil-loading terminal in the region, issued alerts about possible new attacks closer to midday.

Drone fragments damaged the deck of the tanker in Tuapse and forced the crew to evacuate, according to a statement on the Telegram channel of the regional emergency services. Sochi airport — the main air transport hub for the region — temporarily halted flights on Sunday.

Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure from refineries to crude pipelines to sea terminals in recent months, while the Kremlin has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s gas and power networks ahead of winter.

Rosneft runs a transshipment terminal near its Tuapse refinery with a capacity of about 17 million tons per year, according to the oil company’s website. The terminal is mainly used for the export of fuel oil, naphtha and diesel produced at the company’s Tuapse, Saratov, Achinsk and Samara refineries, it said.

The Tuapse refinery has a capacity of about 240,000 barrels per day.

The press service for Rosneft didn’t respond to a request for comment sent by WhatsApp outside normal business hours.

Rosneft was sanctioned by the US last month along with Lukoil PJSC as US President Donald Trump’s latest peace attempts floundered.

Ukraine on Saturday claimed a strike on three branches of a fuel pipeline in the Moscow region, calling it a “serious blow” to Russian military logistics. The Koltsevo pipeline is used to transport gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence, which announced the action.

Separately on Sunday, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said at least six people, including two children, were killed in a series of Russian drone and missile strikes overnight on the nation’s southern and central regions. Kremlin forces launched some 79 drones and two ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s air force said.