Oil depot on fire in Sevastopol, head of Russian occupying authority in Crimea claims drone attack

The head of the illegal Russian occupation government in Sevastopol claimed a drone attack on April 29 caused a large fire at an oil depot at the Kozacha Bay in Russian-occupied Sevastopol.

"A fuel tank is on fire near Manganari Brothers Street in the Kozacha bay area. According to preliminary information, the fire was caused by an unmanned aerial vehicle hit," Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram.

Razvozhaev also said that the fire had spread to a 1,000 square-meter area and that details on casualties and damage were still being determined.

Videos and photos of a large fire spanning across what appears to be the entire oil depot and a massive black cloud of smoke above the city began circulating on social media early in the morning on April 29.

Since August 2022, explosions and fires have regularly been reported on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and Sevastopol, Crimea's largest city. On Oct. 8 massive explosion occurred on the Crimean Bridge, illegally built by Russia in 2018 to connect Russia with Crimea, partially destroying the portion that carried railway traffic.

Russia has occupied Crimea since it annexed the peninsula in 2014 in the wake of the Euromaidan Revolution that ousted then-President Viktor Yanukovych.